New Delhi, Aug 3 (Agency) The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2023 seeking to bring major reform by introducing auction as the method of allocation of operating rights in the offshore areas. The House passed the Bill by voice vote in absence of members from opposition parties who have been demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on Manipur violence. Lok Sabha had passed the Bill on August 1. The Bill provides for two types of operating rights to private sector only through auction by competitive bidding, viz. production lease and composite licence. It seeks to give operating rights to PSUs in the mineral bearing areas reserved by the central government. The Bill seeks to provide production lease for a period of 50 years on lines similar to the MMDR Act.
While presenting the Bill in the House, Union Minister for Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi said that the amendments would ensure more transparency in allocation of these critical mineral resources as this will be done only through a transparent auction mechanism. The Rajya Sabha also passed the Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill, 2023 and the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023. The Press and Registration of Periodicals Bill replaces the existing Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867 and seeks to do away with provisions that required publishers and printers to file a declaration before the district magistrate. It also seeks to do away with the penal provisions of the PRB Act which made improper declaration of information a punishable offence with a prison term of up to six months. Replying to the discussion on the Bill, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said that the Bill is aimed at ease of doing business, simplifying registration process for publishers and decriminalising penal provisions of the colonial era. The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Advocates Act, 1961 and punish ‘touts’.