India Exempts Atomic, Critical Mineral Mining Projects From Public Consultations, Central Panel To Review Clearances

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has exempted mining projects involving atomic, critical and strategic minerals from public consultations, in view of “national defence and security requirements and strategic considerations.”

The order, issued through a new office memorandum (OM), follows requests from the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the Indian Express reported.

While public consultations will no longer be mandatory, such projects will undergo “comprehensive appraisal” by sectoral expert committees at the central level, regardless of the project size.

“The above matter has been examined in this Ministry vis-a-vis the prevailing provisions under EIA, 2006, and keeping in view the national defence and security requirement and strategic considerations, all mining projects of atomic minerals… and critical and strategic minerals… shall be exempted from Public Consultation and will be appraised at the Central level,” the OM was quoted as saying by IE.

In its 4 August request, the Defence Ministry highlighted the importance of rare earth elements, noting their use in radar, sonar, communication and display systems, vehicle mounts, and precision-guided munitions.

It warned of a “huge supply risk for the country” due to the scarcity of such resources and their concentration in limited global regions.

Similarly, the DAE in a 29 August letter underlined the role of thorium from monazite in India’s third-stage atomic energy programme and stressed the need to operationalise new deposits of beach sand minerals and uranium.

The decision aligns with recent government steps to fast-track approvals for critical mineral projects.

Earlier this year, the Centre created a dedicated category for such minerals on its clearance portal Parivesh and amended the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023, to streamline forest clearances.

Please click here to add Swarajya as your preferred and trusted news source on Google.

Also Read: India's Satellite Launch Capacity Gets Big Push As ISRO Inks Technology Transfer Pact With HAL For SSLV Production