Lok Sabha Question No. 14 (STARRED), answered on 2024-07-22
Subject: Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Rajkumar Roat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 14

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2024

## Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies

## *14. SHRI RAJKUMAR ROAT:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the area of land belonging to the Department of Forests allotted by the Government on lease or otherwise to mining companies in the country during the last five  years,  State/division-wise  including  Udaipur  Banswara  division  along  with  the criteria thereof and detailed information with regard to the names of companies, total area, period of lease, conditions and copies of No Objection Certificates (NOCs);
- (b) whether the NOCs for the land belonging to the Department of Forest in Rajasthan have been issued to the mining companies without concurrence of the Gram Sabhas and in violation of the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act;
- (c) if so, whether the Government proposes to cancel all the said NOCs;
- (d) if so, the time by which these NOCs are likely to be withdrawn and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e) whether the  Government considers it  mandatory  to  take  NOCs  from  the  concerned Gram  Sabhas  of  the  Gram  Panchayat  of  the  forest  land  area,  constituted  under  the Panchayati Raj or the PESA Act prior to allotting said land to the companies?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

***

Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat

- (a) The 'land' is a State subject. The forest areas and the legal boundaries thereof are determined and maintained by the concerned State Government/UT Administration. Accordingly,  the  final  decision  to assign  on  lease  or allot  the forest land for any non-forestry purpose is within the domain of the concerned State  Government/  UT  Administration.  However,  the  prior  approval  of  the Central Government under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is required for using any forest land for non-forestry purposes.

In  this  regard,  the  Central  Government  has  launched  an  online  portal  namely PARIVESH ('Pro Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental  Single  window  Hub')  for  the purpose of  submitting and processing proposals for the Forest, Wildlife and other Environmental clearances. As per the information available on the portal 179 number of proposals involving 18922.98 ha of forest land have been approved for diversion in mining category under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 during last five years i.e. from  01.04.2019 to  31.03.2024. State/UT wise details of forest land diverted  in  mining  category  under  the  provisions  of  Van  (Sanrakshan  Evam Samvardhan)  Adhiniyam,  1980  during  the  last  five  years  is  enclosed  at Annexure-I and the details of the mining proposals approved in case of state of Rajasthan during the last five years is enclosed at Annexure-II.

The  details  of  projects  like  names  of  companies,  total  area,  period  of  lease, conditions  including  locations  and  name  of  division  is  available  in  the  public domain on the PARIVESH portal.

- (b) to (e) The approval under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is only the prior approval of the Central Govt. and the final order for the diversion of forest land for non-forestry purposes is issued by the concerned State Govt./UT Administration after ensuring the compliance of the provisions of all other Acts and Rules made thereunder. In this regard the Rule 11 (7) of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023 provides that: 'the State Government or Union territory Administration, as the case may be, after receiving the 'Final' approval of the Central Government under sub-section (1)  of  section  2  of  the  Adhiniyam,  and  after  fulfilment  and  compliance  of  the provisions of all other Acts and rules made thereunder, as applicable including ensuring settlement of rights under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (2 of 2007), shall issue order for diversion, assignment of lease or de-reservation, as the case may be'.

*****

Annexure-I

Annexure  referred  to  part  (a)  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.  *14  to  be  answered  on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat

States/UTs wise forest area approved in mining projects for use of forest land for nonforestry purpose under Van (Sanrakhan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam Act, 1980

| Category : Mining   | Category : Mining   | During the Period : 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024   | During the Period : 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024   |
|---------------------|---------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.              | State / UTs         | No. of Proposals                               | Area approved (in Ha.)                         |
| 1                   | Arunachal Pradesh   | 1                                              | 83.12                                          |
| 2                   | Assam               | 12                                             | 451.99                                         |
| 3                   | Chhattisgarh        | 11                                             | 2258.20                                        |
| 4                   | Himachal Pradesh    | 4                                              | 85.50                                          |
| 5                   | Jharkhand           | 16                                             | 2658.23                                        |
| 6                   | Karnataka           | 13                                             | 750.24                                         |
| 7                   | Madhya Pradesh      | 21                                             | 3406.63                                        |
| 8                   | Maharashtra         | 6                                              | 262.52                                         |
| 9                   | Meghalaya           | 1                                              | 6.55                                           |
| 10                  | Odisha              | 48                                             | 7680.78                                        |
| 11                  | Rajasthan           | 4                                              | 488.58                                         |
| 12                  | Tamil Nadu          | 1                                              | 16.72                                          |
| 13                  | Telangana           | 6                                              | 571.13                                         |
| 14                  | Tripura             | 31                                             | 77.26                                          |
| 15                  | Uttar Pradesh       | 1                                              | 0.00                                           |
| 16                  | Uttarakhand         | 2                                              | 23.75                                          |
| 17                  | West Bengal         | 1                                              | 101.77                                         |
| Grand Total         | Grand Total         | 179                                            | 18922.98                                       |

| Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   | Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   | Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   | Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   | Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   | Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   | Annexure-II Annexure referred to part (a) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *14 to be answered on 22.07.2024 on 'Allotment of Forest Land to Mining Companies' by Shri Rajkumar Roat   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      | Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      | Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      | Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      | Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      | Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      | Details of the approved proposals of Mining Category in Rajasthan during the Period from 01/04/2019 to 31/03/2024                                                                      |
| S. NO.                                                                                                                                                                                 | Proposal No                                                                                                                                                                            | Proposal Name                                                                                                                                                                          | User Agency                                                                                                                                                                            | Name of Division                                                                                                                                                                       | Area Approved (in Ha.)                                                                                                                                                                 | Stage II Date                                                                                                                                                                          |
| 1                                                                                                                                                                                      | FP/RJ/MIN /125714 /2021                                                                                                                                                                | Pahadpur Block A &Bfor mining purpose                                                                                                                                                  | DMG RAJASTHAN                                                                                                                                                                          | Bharatpur Territorial                                                                                                                                                                  | 398.0085                                                                                                                                                                               | 11.03.2022                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 2                                                                                                                                                                                      | FP/RJ/MIN /921/ 2000                                                                                                                                                                   | M/L of Silica Sand                                                                                                                                                                     | M/S. HIND MINERALS                                                                                                                                                                     | Karauli Territorial                                                                                                                                                                    | 5.9095                                                                                                                                                                                 | 19.04.2023                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 3                                                                                                                                                                                      | FP/RJ/MIN /142599 /2021                                                                                                                                                                | Opencast Marble Mining in Revenue Village - Danta,                                                                                                                                     | RDSA MINING LLP                                                                                                                                                                        | Pratapgarh Territorial                                                                                                                                                                 | 74.249                                                                                                                                                                                 | 09.10.2023                                                                                                                                                                             |
| 4                                                                                                                                                                                      | FP/RJ/MIN /142600 /2021                                                                                                                                                                | Opencast Marble Mining (Plot No.02/2019 in Revenue Village Kela Mela,                                                                                                                  | RDSA MINING LLP                                                                                                                                                                        | Pratapgarh Territorial                                                                                                                                                                 | 10.4162                                                                                                                                                                                | 05.10.2023                                                                                                                                                                             |
| Total                                                                                                                                                                                  | Total                                                                                                                                                                                  | Total                                                                                                                                                                                  | Total                                                                                                                                                                                  | Total                                                                                                                                                                                  | 488.5832                                                                                                                                                                               |                                                                                                                                                                                        |