The Narendra Modi government was successful in getting a crucial bill on mines and minerals passed by the Rajya Sabha on Friday, the last day of the first half of the Budget session, which is likely to be extended further for other pending legislations.

The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 to replace an ordinance promulgated in January, was passed by 117 votes in favour while 69 MPs opposed it.

Among the parties, other than the BJP, that voted in favour are the Trinamool Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Biju Janata Dal, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Samajwadi Party and the AIADMK.
 
The opposition Congress and the Left voted against the bill while the Janata Dal-United and the Rashtriya Janata Dal abstained. The Congress and the Left had demanded that the bill be sent to the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha.

The bill seeks to use a fixed percentage of the revenue generated from mining on the development of the local area. It also says that there will be no renewal of any mining concession, unlike the original Act of 1957.

Also, the mining licence will now be for 50 years, as against 30 now, after which there will be no renewal but compulsory auction. The NDA government has already identified 199 mines across the country for auction.

On Thursday, the opposition had forced the deferment of consideration of the contentious bill till Friday, arguing that the mineral-bearing states were not consulted by the government.