-The Times of India   The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Bill, cleared by the cabinet last week, signals that the government`s heart is in the right place. Under its provisions, coal firms must share 26% of their net profits with project area residents, while non-coal miners will have to provide them a sum equal to royalty paid to state governments. No system is in place at present to properly compensate...

-The Indian Express   With corruption emerging as a national issue, the government on Wednesday unveiled a host of steps as part of its anti-graft drive, including setting up of 71 fast-track special CBI courts, fixing of a limit of three months to grant sanction for prosecution of “tainted” officials, and abolishment of discretionary powers enjoyed by ministers — as recommended by a Group of Ministers on corruption. Announcing that the government has...

For non-coal firms, amount will be equivalent to their royalty The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the landmark Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011 that provides for mining companies to keep aside 26 per cent of their net profits for a Mineral Development Fund to be used for the development and rehabilitation of project-affected people in tribal areas. For the non-coal companies, the amount will be equivalent to...

Mamata Banerjee’s assurance over land allotment, coal access falls flat. Two weeks after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assured JSW Steel vice chairman and managing director Sajjan Jindal that all issues will be ironed out, fresh problems, including capping access to coal mines have struck the state’s largest investment. A number of riders are creeping into the terms and conditions set forth in the development agreement that JSW Steel had signed...

-The Indian Express Unfinished car shells rusting in a deserted factory in India's West Bengal state lie testimony to flaws in a century-old land-acquisition law the government now wants to replace. * Jobs, housing, cash to landowners made mandatory * Costs, project delays to increase - Indian corporates react * Bill to push up costs by 350 pct for big plots - analysts, cos * Bill likely to be passed in December Tata Motors was forced...