New Delhi, April 24: The Ministry of Mines announced on Friday that following the success of the previous fiscal year, a special assistance scheme for capital investment (SASCI) will include an incentive mechanism for mining sector reforms with a budget of ₹5,000 crores for the fiscal year 2026-27.
According to a statement from the ministry, operational guidelines for this component of the scheme have recently been issued. This initiative is a significant step towards encouraging reforms in the mining sector across states.
The SASCI scheme aims to streamline and expedite mining operations, increase mineral production, enhance revenue collection from the mining sector by states, and improve overall governance in the sector. Under this scheme, incentive amounts will be provided to states and union territories (with assemblies) across three reform areas.
In the first phase, states must integrate their mining operations with the Ministry’s unified mining portal, establish a pre-auction committee to actively resolve land-related issues, form a state-level coordination committee for regular monitoring of mining operations, set an annual auction calendar for major minerals and comply as much as possible, and adopt technology-based measures to prevent or detect errors in the classification of mineral ores. Any state must complete all five reform tasks by December 15, 2026, to be eligible for an incentive of ₹100 crores.
In the second phase, incentives will be provided to states for successfully auctioning major mineral blocks with pre-approved clearances (such as forest, environmental, land, etc.) by December 31, 2026, to commence mining operations (₹20 crores per block, with a maximum limit of ₹200 crores per state). Additionally, at least 10% of the successfully auctioned major mineral blocks during the fiscal year 2026-27 (by March 31, 2026) must commence operations (i.e., start production and dispatch) to ensure an incentive of ₹250 crores per state.
The third phase includes SMRI-based reforms, where the state mining readiness index (SMRI) for 2026-27 will reward the top three states in each of the three categories (A, B, and C) as issued by the Ministry of Mines, with rewards of ₹100 crores, ₹75 crores, and ₹50 crores for first, second, and third places, respectively.
–
ABS/
My name is Himanshu Tiwari. I am an experienced content writer with several years of expertise in the field. Currently, I contribute to Daily Kiran, creating engaging and informative content across a variety of categories including TECHNOLOGY, health, travel, education, and automobiles. My goal is to deliver accurate, insightful, and captivating information through my words to help readers stay informed and empowered.
Leave a Comment