{"id":55195,"date":"2026-01-25T11:43:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T05:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=55195"},"modified":"2026-01-25T11:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T05:43:04","slug":"india-govt-proposes-excluding-forest-area-in-initial-lease-deed-for-faster-operationalisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=55195&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"India: Govt proposes excluding forest area in initial lease deed for faster operationalisation"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Move aimed at fast-tracking operationalisation of auctioned mines<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Lol to be automatically issued post auction, performance security payment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Indian government has proposed segregating forest and non-forest areas, into two leases in future mines.<\/p>\n<p>In an attempt to fast-track operationalisation of auctioned mines, the Mines Ministry will allow part execution of mining leases, which will require an amendment to the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015. Following these amendments, lessees will be able to execute leases separately for forest and non-forest areas with certain conditions. They can also start with a Mine Development and Production Agreement (MDPA) for the non-forest area.<\/p>\n<p>Amendments are called for, as the ministry prepares to launch its unified, single mining portal which will collect all data, from land status, environmental clearances, letters of Intents and other regulatory clearances to eventually even mining transport and dispatch. This portal will automatically issue a letter of intent (Lol) once an auction is held, and performance security paid, reducing the period from date of issue of Lol to execution of the mining or compensatory lease.<\/p>\n<p>Suggestions for the proposed, &#8216;Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026&#8217; are called for on or before 23 February 2026. The proposed changes will:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Allow the State Government to allow the preferred bidder to exclude the forest area, in case the portion is in a corner or at the edge of the block and the estimated quantity of mineral resources in that portion is less than 20% of the total estimated resources of the block.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Allow execution of lease for non-forest area and forest area separately in blocks that do not contain deep-seated minerals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>In such cases the Mine Development and Production Agreement will also be signed in two parts, first for non-forest part and subsequently for the entire block area once all consents, approvals, permits, no-objections and the like are received.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>In case of execution of part mining lease, there shall be no reduction in the amount of instalments of upfront payment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>The part leases shall be amalgamated under rule 56 of the Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Where NIT is issued after the commencement of the Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026, payment of the second instalment of the upfront payment are to be made within one year from the date of issue of LoI.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Changes are also being made to return security and payments where an auction has been annulled for reasons not attributable to the preferred bidder.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li>For minerals (other than critical minerals), an amount equal to 1.50% of the value of estimated resources shall be payable to the state government in three instalments (33%, 33%, 34%) and adjusted in full against the auction premium when production begins.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>With these changes, and once the proposed unified portal is launched, various processes and implementation of and compliance to the rules will be done only through the portal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Move aimed at fast-tracking operationalisation of auctioned mines Lol to be automatically issued post auction,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[313],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iron-steel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1769319775",1280,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1?v=1769319775",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1?v=1769319775",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1?v=1769319775",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1?v=1769319775",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1769319775",1280,720,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1769319775",1280,720,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?resize=1115%2C715&ssl=1?v=1769319775",1115,715,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1?v=1769319775",800,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1?v=1769319775",1024,576,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?resize=540%2C340&ssl=1?v=1769319775",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1?v=1769319775",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Biz Trend 24","author_link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/author\/online24"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&#038;lang=en\" rel=\"category\">Iron &amp; Steel<\/a>","tag_info":"Iron &amp; Steel","comment_count":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-25T114232.268.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1?v=1769319775","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53405,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=53405&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":55195,"position":0},"title":"India&#8217;s iron ore imports hit 7-year high in CY&#8217;25 as production lags behind demand","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"January 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"India resumes pellet imports after nearly 4-year hiatus 25% drop in iron ore output drives JSW to double imports Material shortages keep Indian prices firm, global prices fall Morning Brief:\u00a0India's iron ore imports stood at 12.2 million tonnes (mnt) in CY'25, as per provisional data maintained with BigMint. Of this,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-08T124235.614.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-08T124235.614.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-08T124235.614.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-08T124235.614.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-08T124235.614.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53187,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=53187&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":55195,"position":1},"title":"India: 40,000 t of iron ore booked in Odisha auctions","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"January 7, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"SAIL auctioned 40,000 t of iron ore dump fines from its Bolani mines, with 20,000 t (Fe 59.92%) booked at a INR 200\/t premium over a INR 4,600\/t base price and 20,000 t (Fe 60.52%) at a INR 350\/t premium over INR 5,200\/t on 3-6 Jan'26. Another 32,000 t (Fe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T110005.162.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T110005.162.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T110005.162.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T110005.162.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-07T110005.162.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67508,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=67508&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":55195,"position":2},"title":"India: Supreme Court upholds higher royalty on iron ore dispatches after statutory revision","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"June 8, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court clarifies applicability of revised royalty rates Centre's royalty hike from 10% to 15% triggers litigation The Supreme Court has held that buyers of iron ore are liable to pay the royalty rate prevailing at the time of mineral dispatch, even if the auction was concluded and payments were\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-58.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":66045,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=66045&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":55195,"position":3},"title":"India: Odisha iron ore prices remain stable amid subdued market activity","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"May 17, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Market awaits OMC auction for clearer price direction Sharp fall in sponge iron, billet prices weighs on index BigMint's Odisha iron ore fines (Fe 62%) index remained stable w-o-w at INR 5,500\/t ($58\/t) ex-mines on Saturday, 16 May 2026. BigMint recorded deals for around 105,000 t this week, concluded directly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-67-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-67-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-67-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-67-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-67-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61142,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=61142&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":55195,"position":4},"title":"India: Miners to auction over 90,000 t of iron ore in Odisha","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"March 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Around 91,590 t of iron ore will be auctioned by miners in Odisha. AM\/NS :\u00a056,000 t (Fe 52.8%) residual fines on 26 Mar at INR 1,600\/t. SAIL-Kalta :\u00a015,590 t dump fines (Fe 56.87%) on 26 Mar. SAIL-Bolani :\u00a020,000 t dump fines (Fe 58.59%) on 26 Mar. Prices are yet to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Untitled-design-8.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54528,"url":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?p=54528&lang=en","url_meta":{"origin":55195,"position":5},"title":"India: Over 270,000 t of iron ore booked in NMDC Karnataka&#8217;s auction","author":"Biz Trend 24","date":"January 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"NMDC auctioned 272,000 t of iron ore from its Kumaraswamy mines in Karnataka on 17 Jan'26. 88,000-t lumps (10-40 mm, Fe 60.18-61.11%) were booked at around INR 3,630-3,798\/t against base prices of INR 3,198-3,388\/t, and 184,000-t fines (Fe 58.4-61.61%) were sold at INR 2,509-3,282\/t against base prices of INR 2,429-2,972\/t.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Iron &amp; Steel&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Iron &amp; Steel","link":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/?cat=313&lang=en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153602.793.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153602.793.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153602.793.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153602.793.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biztrend24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-2026-01-19T153602.793.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=55195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55197,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55195\/revisions\/55197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/55196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=55195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=55195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biztrend24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=55195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}