The Government of Kerala on January 19, 2026, issued the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession (Amendment) Rules, 2026 to further amend the Kerala Minor Mineral Concession Rules, 2015.
The following amendments have been stated:
• In rule 14, in sub-rules (6), (7) and (10) for the words "one year" the words "two years" shall be substituted.
• In rule 14, after sub-rule (12), the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely:-
"(13) In cases and classes of cases, where an area permitted to extract ordinary earth has met with any other minor mineral while progressing the extraction, the competent authority shall issue movement permit for the removal of newly obtained minor mineral, where the volume of minor mineral to be removed shall not exceed the difference between the volume permitted in the building plan and the volume of ordinary earth removed. In such case, the applicant has to remit in advance the royalty for the entire remaining quantity of the new mineral in addition to the royalty already paid for ordinary earth.";
• In Rule 27, in sub-rule (2), in clause (c), for the figure "1904", the symbol and figure, "1908" shall be substituted.
• In rule 28, in sub-rule (1), for the symbol, figure, bracket and words " 10,000 ₹ (Rupees Ten Thousand only)", the words "twenty thousand rupees" shall be substituted.;
• In rule 28, in sub-rule (2) for the words "twenty thousand", the words "forty thousand" shall be substituted.
• In rule 57, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
"Provided that in the case of submission of quarry closure plan, the application shall be accompanied by a chalan receipt of rupees twenty five thousand remitted to the Government treasuries to the credit of the Department of Mining and Geology under the relevant receipt head of account towards application fee, except for the quarrying permit for Laterite (building stone).";
• In rule 67, after sub-rule (6), following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely:-
"(7) Every application for the approval of scheme of mining shall be accompanied by a chalan receipt of rupees twenty five thousand remitted to the Government treasuries to the credit of the Department of Mining and Geology under the relevant receipt head of account towards application fee, except for the quarrying permit for Laterite (building stone).";
• In rule 72, after sub-rule (1), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-
"Provided that in such case the lessee shall submit an application in Form V along with all relevant documents as appended in said Form. The lessee shall execute a deed in this regard in Form W after obtaining permission in writing from the competent authority.";
• After rule 103, the following rules shall be inserted, namely:
"103A. Transfer of Letter of Intent.- In the event of demise of the applicant for quarrying permit/quarrying lease, the Letter of Intent granted in favour of him/her legal heirs/permitted assigns on production of documents as stipulated under this rules”;
• After rule 116, the following rule shall be inserted, namely:-
"117. Star rating system for quarries.- The Government, for evaluating and recognizing mining operations based on their implementation of Sustainable Development Framework (SDF), may implement a star rating system for quarries. The system uses a five-star scale, with higher ratings indicating better performance in areas like environmental management, social responsibility, and operational efficiency. In such cases the quarrying lease holder / quarrying permit holder may submit a duly filled self assessment template as given in Annexure –1 and the evaluation and recognition of the quarry may be done by a Committee as notified by the Government from time to time.";
They shall come into force at once.
[Notification No. S. R. O. No. 66/2026]
