Consider the following statements:

1.  In India, State Governments do not have the power to auction non-coal mines

2.  Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand do not have gold mines.

3.  Rajasthan has iron ore mines

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Solution

Statement 1 and 2 is not correct : Central Government has replaced the first-come-first-served/discretionary mechanism for grant of mineral resources by a transparent and competitive auction process. Further, the Central Government also notified 31 more minerals as ‘minor’ minerals and delegated an entire regulation for these 31 minerals to States. On these minerals notified as 'minor' minerals, the state governments have the power to auction minings (Section10A-Clause 4). The minor minerals include non-coal minerals. India has three working gold mines (Hutti and Uti in Karnataka and the Hirabuddini in Jharkand). While mining from Kolar gold fields have been abandoned in 2001, the Ramagiri gold mines, Ramagiri district (Andhra Pradesh)were locked out a few years ago following the poor production of gold and incurring losses to the government. Only Statement 3 is correct : In Rajasthan, Iron-Ore Deposits are located in the district of Jaipur, Udaipur, Jhunjhunu, Sikar, Bhilwara, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa and Banswara. This includes resources of Iron–Ore (Both Hematite & Magnetite)