Why in the news?
The Ministry of Mines has requested an expert advisory committee of the Environment Ministry to exempt it from the Supreme Court-mandated Net Present Value (NPV) that prospectors pay when they dig exploratory boreholes in forests, records of a meeting show.
- The Net Present Value (NPV), as it is called, is a monetary approximation of the value that is lost when a piece of forest land has been razed.
- This is on the basis of the services and ecological value and there are prescribed formulae for calculating this amount which depends on the location and nature of the forest and the type of industrial enterprise that will replace a particular parcel of forest.
- The use of forest land falling in National Parks/Wildlife Sanctuaries will be permissible only in totally unavoidable circumstances for public interest projects and after obtaining permission from the Supreme Court.
- The SC mandates this must be paid by those who use forest land for non-forestry purposes.
- Ministry of Mines argued that all areas of exploration are not converted into mining. Only about 1% cases are converted to mining. Considering these, payment of NPV is regarded as an avoidable expenditure.
(Source: The Hindu)
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