India transferred gypsum production under the control of the states

The Center of Mining of India decided to transfer the right to control the extraction of 31 types of mineral raw materials to state governments, reducing their status in the state gradation of minerals from "most important" to "less significant". This change is attributed to the general course of changes in the country's mining policy, which was taken by the new Minister of Mining Narendra Singh Tomar. This will allow states to receive full payment from companies for the right to develop subsurface resources, which will significantly increase their income.

The list of "reduced" minerals includes gypsum, quartz, chalk, porcelain clay and others.

"This is an important step in the implementation of the principle of "minimum government intervention, maximum authority", which the state adheres to. The transfer of new powers to the states will speed up the process of developing mineral deposits in the country, " Tomar said.

It is worth noting that the Indian states cannot independently manage the mineral deposits located on their territory that belong to the "most important" class: coal, iron ore, non-ferrous metal ores, etc.For any legal operations with such deposits, the state government must obtain mandatory permission from the central ministries. Thus, the change in mining policy will not affect the existing markets for these materials, which are dominated by federal mining enterprises.

The decision to expand the list of insignificant minerals should dramatically reduce the time required to conclude and approve a mining contract, as the chain of instances required for this will be significantly reduced. According to the center's forecasts, production should also increase. The negative side of this decision is the problem of environmental pollution, which has become extremely acute in recent decades for India, which is still experiencing rapid industrial growth.