The Rajya Sabha approved the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill of 2016 on Monday, paving the way for merger and acquisition activity involving firms holding captive mining leases that were allotted in the past without adopting the auction route. Though the mining law was amended in 2015, it didn’t allow transfer of such mining leases, stalling proposed merger transactions in the sector such as Ultratech’s takeover of Jaypee Group’s cement plants and Lafarge’s plan to sell two cement units to Birla Corp.
