UPSC Prelims 2025 Q89: Minor Minerals and the MMDR Act — Explained

Consider the following statements:

Statement I: In India, State Governments have no power for making rules for grant of concessions in respect of extraction of minor minerals even though such minerals are located in their territories.

Statement II: In India, the Central Government has the power to notify minor minerals under the relevant law.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Both Statement I and Statement II are correct and Statement II explains Statement I
  2. Both Statement I and Statement II are correct but Statement II does not explain Statement I
  3. Statement I is correct but Statement II is not correct
  4. Statement I is not correct but Statement II is correct

Answer: (d) Statement I is not correct but Statement II is correct

Statement-wise explanation

  • Statement I: incorrect — Section 15 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) gives State Governments the power to make rules for granting quarry leases, mining leases and other mineral concessions for minor minerals. Every State has used this power to frame its own Minor Mineral Concession Rules. Minor minerals are therefore regulated at the State level, and the State also keeps the revenue from them. The claim that States have 'no power' is the reverse of the law.
  • Statement II: correct — Section 3(e) of the MMDR Act defines minor minerals as building stones, gravel, ordinary clay, ordinary sand (other than sand used for prescribed purposes) and any other mineral that the Central Government declares to be a minor mineral by notification in the Official Gazette. The Centre has used this power in both directions. On 10 February 2015 it notified 31 major minerals as minor minerals. On 20 February 2025 it moved barytes, felspar, mica and quartz back to the major category. Because Statement I is false, Statement II cannot explain it. The Centre deciding what counts as a minor mineral does not take away the States' power to make rules for those minerals.

How to eliminate

Statement I uses an absolute claim: States have 'no power' over minerals in their own territory. Absolute denials of State power over a resource that is visibly managed locally (sand, stone, gravel quarrying) should make you suspicious. Sand mining is a familiar State-level issue, with State bans, State auctions and State-issued permits. That basic knowledge is enough to reject Statement I. Once Statement I is false, only one option is left: the one with Statement I not correct and Statement II correct. You do not need to know Section 3(e) to answer. The one fact to remember: under the MMDR Act, the Centre decides what is a minor mineral (Section 3(e)), and the States make the concession rules for it (Section 15).

Know more

Major vs minor minerals under the MMDR Act, 1957

The Constitution splits mineral powers between the Centre and the States. Entry 54 of the Union List lets Parliament regulate mines and mineral development to the extent it declares by law. Entry 23 of the State List gives States the rest. Parliament made that declaration in Section 2 of the MMDR Act. Inside the Act, minerals fall into two legal groups:

Feature Major minerals Minor minerals
Who decides the category Parliament / Central Government Central Government, by notification under Section 3(e)
Concession rules made by Central Government (e.g., Mineral Concession Rules) State Governments, under Section 15
Royalty rates fixed by Centre (Second Schedule, Section 9) State Government
Revenue goes to State Government State Government
Examples Iron ore, bauxite, coal, limestone Sand, gravel, building stone, ordinary clay, granite

Key points:

  • 'Minor' is a legal category, not a measure of value. Granite and marble are minor minerals. Classification depends on end use and on how the mineral is regulated.
  • The Centre can reclassify minerals in either direction. In 2015 it moved 31 minerals to the minor list to give States more control. In February 2025 it moved barytes, felspar, mica and quartz back to the major list. These minerals occur with critical minerals such as lithium and beryl, and minor-mineral leaseholders were not reporting or extracting those critical minerals. Revenue from these mines still goes to the States.
  • Section 14 says Sections 4 to 13 of the Act, which govern major-mineral concessions, do not apply to minor minerals.
  • Atomic minerals are dealt with separately under the Atomic Minerals Concession Rules, 2016.

In the news

On 20 February 2025 the Ministry of Mines notified barytes, felspar, mica and quartz as major minerals, moving them off the minor-mineral list. This followed Cabinet approval of the National Critical Mineral Mission on 29 January 2025. The move was in the news three months before the exam, and it shows the Centre's power to notify which minerals are minor.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Mica: Mica is one of the four minerals whose legal category the Centre changed in 2025, which is the context behind Statement II.
  • MMDR Amendment Act 2023: The 2023 amendment shows Parliament reshaping the MMDR Act's mineral lists, which helps explain how the Act's classifications work.

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