The New Mines and Minerals Act - Liberalising the Loot of India's Natural Resources?

Given the huge losses to the exchequer following the 2G and Coal Gate scams, and the Supreme Court decisions mandating auction for allocation of scarce natural resources, there was a need for the government to put in place a transparent system to deal with extractive industries. The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 attempts to put in place a system of auctions to deal with allocation of mineral resources and also deals with the compensatory and regulatory structure for the carrying out of extractive industries. However, some have argued that the Act actually legitimizes prospective scams by excluding large quantities of minerals from the purview of the auction and transparency provisions. Many have pointed to the dilution of environmental norms as well as reduced compensations payable to displaced persons under the Act and have therefore questioned the intentions of the Modi Government when passing this legislation. Newsclick speaks to D.Raghunandan, President, All India People's Science Network to discuss the recently passed MMDRA Act and whether the legislation actually favours the corporate sector at the cost of the citizenry of this country.