Government of India has cleared a proposal to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) to allow transfer of captive mining leases not granted through auction. The move is aimed at allowing mergers and acquisitions of companies and facilitating banks and financial institutions to liquidate stressed assets where a company or its captive mining lease is mortgaged. The amendment will allow transfer of captive mining leases not granted through auction.

The transfer provisions will facilitate banks and financial institutions to liquidate stressed assets where a company or its captive mining lease is mortgaged. The amendment will benefit lessees desirous of transferring the captive leases not granted through auction, it added. The government also said the move will benefit banks and financial institutions and does not entail any recurring or non-recurring expenditure on the government. The MMDR Act, passed by Parliament in March last year, only allows transfer of mining leases in cases where the mine has been acquired through auction.