The Government of Meghalaya on March 05, 2021 has issued the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the grant of prospecting license or mining lease coal in the State. That landowner shall submit an application to Central Government in quadruplicate, in Form-A of this SOP through the State Government, for obtaining the previous approval of Central Government for grant of Prospecting License/Mining Lease.
The following guidelines have been given in the SOP:
• The application shall be made in Form A enclosed to this SOP.
• The cover letter shall contain the following:
1. A declaration to the effect that the application is being made on behalf of a Tribal who owns land in the Sixth Schedule Areas of the State of Meghalaya.
2. A declaration to the effect specifying status of the Applicant as to whether the applicant is exempt from payment of income tax as per Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1966.
3. A declaration to the effect that the application is being made under the provisions of Chapter IIIA and/or Chapter V of the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.
4. A declaration to the effect that the application in ‘Form A’ along with the respective enclosures have been duly authenticated by the respective Departments of the Government of Meghalaya or a Nodal Officer which may be appointed by the State Government for that purpose.
5. A declaration to the effect that that the English translated version of documents submitted in support of the application (if any) are true and correct translations of the respective originals.
• An application for prospecting license shall be for an area not less than 100 Hectares.
• The application, along with all enclosures shall be forwarded by the Mining and Geology Department, Government of Meghalaya to the Ministry of Coal Government of India, New Delhi for obtaining previous approval of the Central Government for granting prospecting license.
• The Mining and Geology Department, Government of Meghalaya shall reserve the right to reject any application made for grant of prospecting license in the event the same is found to be incomplete or unsuitable for recommendation to the Central Government.
• After grant of previous approval from the Ministry of Coal, the State Government shall convey approval to the land owner for granting prospecting license in favour of applicant/lessee.
• The prospecting data of any prospecting operations carried out by the Directorate of Mineral Resources, Government of Meghalaya may be provided to such applicants who are interested in making applications for prior-approval of mining lease, on the basis of such prospecting data subject to payment of fee as may be prescribed from time to time.
[Notification No. MG 60/2014/Pt./398]
