India’s Mines Ministry is drawing up contingency plans to offer a three-year extension for merchant mining leases slated to expire in March next year. Sources in the Ministry said that while the government is pushing state governments to initiate the auction of about 288 mining leases expiring next year, the risks of slippages in completing the auction process, and forced closure of the operating mines with the resultant disruption of raw material supplies to metal companies, are “clear and distinct”.
