The Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council is getting ready with its version of what the proposed land acquisition law and the accompanying rehabilitation and resettlement law should be. The bills are scheduled to be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s assurance to Rahul Gandhi. A note drafted by advisory council member N.C. Saxena, which was handed over to panel members when they last met in August,...

Amid a furore over 26 per cent profit-sharing with locals under the proposed new mining law and demands for watering down the provision for PSUs, the Mines Ministry today said its final draft will go with the recommendations of the Group of Ministers. "Based on the discussion of the Group of Ministers (GoM), the final draft of the new mining bill is being prepared by the Mines Ministry and will be...

Existing and prospective industry and mining players of Jharkhand are apprehensive about the draft mining bill, which seeks to make them share 26 per cent of profits with locals. A group of ministers (GoM) approved the draft bill on September 17. Speaking to The Telegraph, Jindal Steel & Power Limited’s (JSPL) senior deputy general manager (corporate affairs) V.P. Sharan said: “The proposed clause — sharing profits with local people — sounds...

It approves 26 per cent share in profits for local people The draft bill proposes setting up of a fund to pay beneficiaries Final legislation likely to be introduced in the Winter session of Parliament The Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, on Friday approved the new Mining Draft Bill, including the provision that mining companies share 26 per cent of profits with local people affected by their...

Output of major crops, including sugar, will be better or equal to 2008-09’s production figures, but food prices are unlikely to return to that year’s levels. Food inflation may have permanently changed to stay on the higher side, economists have said. For a UPA government battling high prices, this could be a gloomy piece of news. A surplus monsoon has boosted acreages of all crops, according to food ministry figures. Output of...