BHUBANESWAR: In a significant deviation from current practices the Centre has asked states to apply for forest clearances , on behalf of unidentified, prospective mining companies.This major step in environment regulatory practice is being undertaken to avoid a disruption in mineral production and its impact on the economy. This occurs as the Narendra Modi government rushes ahead with auctions of mineral deposits.The existing norm, upheld by several Supreme Court orders, has been for the user agency - the miner in this case - to apply for forest clearances, and for these clearances to be strictly co-terminus with the lease period.In 2015, while its national mineral policy was still being drafted, the Government decided to auction all future mineral rights; hundreds of leases older than fifty years would have to come to an end on 31 March 2020, or on 31 March 2030 if captive.Odisha, India ’s largest producer of iron ore and steel, stands to be the most affected by this transition next year. Working mines among those that will lapse in March made up for half the state’s iron ore production of 120mt last in the last fiscal, or 28 per cent of the county’s production.Naveen Patnaik’s government has decided to establish a forest cell within the mines department to facilitate these clearances - to be later transferred to private player. Karnataka has similar plans.In a meeting chaired by the Odisha Chief Secretary on 10 July last month it was decided to take certain “expeditious” steps. “In order to have a smooth transition of expiring leases post 31 March 2020, Central Government has decided that the proposal for FC may be initiated by the State Government. ...One Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) and three Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) range officers will be deputed at least till March 2020 to work in the Directorate of Mines for filing of applications for Forest Clearances for the expiring leases and for prospecting operations. These officers must have experience of dealing with forest diversion proposals,” note the minutes of the meeting.The government is a respondent to the writ on illegal mining in Odisha, being heard by the Supreme Court since 2014. Officials of the steel and mines department who have spent considerable time in court were earlier opposed to this idea. Forest conservation rules are explicit that the user agency needs to submit, among other details, a cost benefit analysis, a mining plan, an area wise and item wise breakup of proposed land use. Speaking to ET on condition of anonymity, one of them said, “How can the state submit a mining plan for a future lessee? But what can we do if every other state agrees?”In Karnataka, the March 2020 deadline will bring to a halt an annual production of only 3.6mt of iron. The state isn’t too perturbed; recently auctioned mines make up for some of this and it has enough stocks for any exigency. “The land belongs to the state, as do the minerals, and forest land to the forest department so why can’t the state act as the agency seeking clearance. After all the act only requires the Ministry of Environment and Forest, Climate Change approval for diversion of forest land for other use. Why should it matter who applies for it when the end purpose is the same,” said a senior official in the state. These are were being mined and are already deforested, he added. The state will pay for the prerequisite compensatory afforestation, the net present value and other dues that it can be compensated for when clearances are transferred.“One of the biggest problems with this process is addressing previous non-compliances and liabilities. There are several instance where there are pending environmental violations and unresolved forest right conflicts. The government’s job is to play a regulatory role and ensure accountability and justice. Instead this process is creating a new administrative practice in favour of mining companies,” said Kanchi Kohli, who heads an environmental justice programme at the Centre for Policy Research.It was unclear whether this change would require an amendment to the act, the rules, or merely, as suggested a senior official, a change in the online form that are to be filled.Ironically Odisha has often complained that applications made by the state’s own Orissa Mining Corporation are met with a zillion, knit-picking queries by the Centre. The July meeting acknowledges that state entities Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd, Director of Geology and Geological Survey of India, assigned to explore a large number of virgin areas for future auction were finding it difficult to get clearances. The forest and environment department was advised to intervene and expedite these approvals too.