The Offshore Areas Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 2002

(1) This Act may be called the Offshore Areas Mineral(Development and Regulation) Act, 2002. (2) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, appoint.

It is hereby declared that it is expedient in thepublic interest that the Union should take under its control the regulation of mines and the development ofminerals in offshore areas to the extent herein after provided.

(1) This Act shall apply to all minerals in the offshore areas including any mineralprescribed by notification under clause (g) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962(33 of 1962) except mineral oils and hydrocarbons related thereto. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of this Act shall be in addition to, and notin derogation of, any other law for the time being in force in the offshore areas.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "administering authority" means an authority notified, in the Official Gazette, by the CentralGovernment for the purposes of this Act; (b) ''atomic minerals" means the minerals included in atomic minerals specified in Part B of theFirst Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957); (c) "Coast Guard" means the Coast Guard constituted under the Coast Guard Act, 1978(30 of 1978); (d) "exploration licence" means a licence granted under section 12; (e) "exploration operation" means any operation undertaken for the purpose of exploring, locatingor proving the mineral deposits; (f) "holder", in relation to any operating right, means the lessee, licensee or permittee, as the casemay be, in respect of such operating right; (g) "hydrocarbon" means very large group of chemical compounds composed of carbon andhydrogen; (h) "Indian national" means a citizen of India and includes a firm or other association, if all themembers of the firm or, as the case may be, the members of the association, are citizens of India; (i) "lessee" means the person in whose name the production lease is granted; (j) "licensee" means the person in whose name the exploration licence is granted; (k) "mine" means any place in the offshore area wherein any exploration or production operationis carried on, together with any vessel, erection, appliance, artificial island or platform and premisesin the offshore area used for the purposes of exploration, winning, treating or preparing minerals,obtaining or extracting any mineral or metal by any mode or method, and includes any area coveredby an exploration licence or production lease where exploration or production operation has been, oris being, or may be, carried on under the provisions of this Act; (l) "mineral" includes all minerals except mineral oil and hydrocarbon resources relating thereto; (m) "mineral oil" includes natural gas and petroleum; (n) "offshore area" means the territorial waters, continental shelf, exclusive economic zone andother maritime zones of India under the Territorial Waters, Continental Shelf, Exclusive EconomicZone and Other Maritime Zones Act, 1976 (80 of 1976); (o) "operating right" means the right of holder of a reconnaissance permit, or an explorationlicence, or a production lease; (p) "permittee" means the person in whose name the reconnaissance permit is granted; (q) "pollution of offshore environment" means the introduction by any person, directly orindirectly, of substances or energy into the offshore environment which results, or is likely to result,in deleterious effect on living resources and marine life, hazards to human health, hindrance to marineactivities, including fishing and other legitimate uses of the offshore areas and impairment of qualityof sea water for use and reduction of amenities; (r) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (s) "production operation" means any operation undertaken for the purpose of winning anymineral from the offshore area and includes any operation directly or indirectly necessary there for orincidental thereto; (t) "production lease" means a lease granted under section 13 which confers an exclusive right forthe purpose of undertaking production operation; (u) "reconnaissance operation" means any preliminary geo-scientific survey undertaken for thepurpose of searching or locating mineral deposits; (v) "reconnaissance permit" means a permit granted under section 11 for the purpose ofundertaking reconnaissance operation; (w) "vessel" includes any ship, boat, sailing vessel or any other vessel of any description.

(1) Noperson shall undertake any reconnaissance operation, exploration operation or production operation in theoffshore areas, except under and in accordance with the prescribed terms and conditions of areconnaissance permit, exploration licence or production lease granted under this Act and the rules madethereunder: Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall apply to any reconnaissance operation or explorationoperation undertaken by the Geological Survey of India, Atomic Minerals Directorate of Exploration andResearch, the Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India of Naval Hydrographic Office of the IndianNavy, the National Institute of Oceanography, the National Institute of Ocean Technology of Departmentof Ocean Development of the Government of India, or any other agency duly authorised in this behalf bythe Central Government. (2) A permittee or licensee or lessee shall furnish-- (a) all data, as the case may be, relating to reconnaissance operation or mineral exploration ormining such as bathymetry, geomorphology, mineral distribution, anomaly maps, sections, core logs,location maps, plans, structures, contour maps, chemical analysis, data on current tides, waves, wind,other geophysical and geotechnical data and any other data collected during exploration operation ormining operation, to the Director-General, Geological Survey of India, Kolkata and the ControllerGeneral, Indian Bureau of Mines, Nagpur; (b) all information pertaining to atomic minerals collected, as the case may be, duringreconnaissance operation or exploration operation or mining operation, to the Secretary to theGovernment of India dealing with the Atomic Energy, Director-General, Geological Survey of India,Kolkata and the Controller General, Indian Bureau of Mines, Nagpur; (c) a six monthly report on the work done by him stating the number of persons engaged anddisclosing in full the geological, geophysical, geochemical, geo-environmental or other valuable datacollected by him during the period under report, to the Director-General, Geological Survey of India,Kolkata and the Controller General, Indian Bureau of Mines, Nagpur and the report shall besubmitted within three months of the closing of the period to which it relates: Provided that in the case of investigations pertaining to the atomic minerals, such report shall alsobe submitted to the Secretary to the Government of India dealing with the Atomic Energy; (d) a full report of the work done by him and all information relevant to mineral resourcescollected by him during the course of exploration operation of the area covered by the licence withinthree months of the expiry of the licence, or abandonment of operation or termination of the licence,whichever is earlier, to the Director-General, Geological Survey of India, Kolkata and the ControllerGeneral, Indian Bureau of Mines, Nagpur and shall also give therein reasons and indicate whether thewhole or any part of the report or data submitted by him should be kept confidential. (3) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Central Government may-- (a) authorise seaward artillery practice under the Seaward Artillery Practice Act, 1949(8 of 1949); (b) provide for, by notification in the Official Gazette, special measures to ensure public safetyand interest, the defence of India and civil defence, conduct of the naval operations and exercises,national security and other strategic considerations and the matters connected therewith during warlike conditions or otherwise. (4) No operating right shall be granted or renewed otherwise than in accordance with the provisionsof this Act and the rules made thereunder and any reconnaissance permit, exploration licence orproduction lease granted, renewed or acquired in contravention of the provisions of this Act or any rulesmade thereunder, shall be void.