Mines Branch

Activities:

• Dealing with matters pertaining to mines & minerals in the State.
• Making necessary correspondence with the Government of India with regard to extraction of major minerals, which comes directly under the GoI and is governed by the MMDR Act, 1957.
• Doing the needful for extraction of Minor Minerals in accordance with West Bengal Minor Minerals (Concession) Rules, 2016; West Bengal Minor Minerals (Auction) Rules, 2016 and West Bengal District Mineral Foundation Rules, 2016.
• Processing Petroleum Exploration License and Petroleum Mining Lease for exploitation and extraction of Coal Bed Methane and Shale Gas.
• Grant Order and mining lease execution orders with the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation Limited (WBMDTCL) for exploration and extraction of minor minerals (Blackstone, Granite etc.) in reserved areas are issued by this branch. Additionally, WBMDTCL is responsible for exploration works throughout the State of West Bengal and act as the State Nodal Agency for distributing Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL) coal to different MSME units which are the end users.
• Framing and amending relevant Rules on concession, auction of Minor Minerals along with formulating guidelines for transfer of lease.
• Preparation of District Survey Report, which is a mandatory document for understanding the mineral resources.
• Dealing with law suits pertaining to mining lease etc.
• Providing guidance to the district authorities and clarifying doubts, so that auction and lease related issues for mining of minor minerals are conducted as per prescribed norms.
• Collection of data from districts and formulation of reports on Royalty, Cess, Bid Money etc. on major & minor minerals through District Mineral Foundation (DMF), National Mineral Exploration Trust.
• Holding regular meetings with district authorities and other stake holders for ensuring prompt action against illegal mining.