The Ministry of Mines notified the Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026 on 30 March 2026 to accelerate operationalisation of mines and improve ease of doing business in the mining sector. The amendment follows a prior change to the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 effected on 17 October 2025 that introduced intermediary timelines between issuance of a letter of intent (LoI) and execution of the mining lease. The 2025 change provided that one per cent of performance security would be appropriated for each month of delay by the preferred bidder and introduced incentives for early operationalisation.

The Second Amendment Rules allow exclusion of non?feasible portions of a mining block where such areas contain less than 25 per cent of the total estimated quantity of mineral resources, addressing cases stalled by small constrained areas such as forest, wildlife corridors, rivers, nallah, habitation or infrastructure. The amendments also broaden participation by permitting Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NPEAs) to bid for all types of blocks they have explored, rather than limiting them to critical, strategic and deep?seated minerals.

A Unified Mining Portal will be implemented to streamline identification and preparation of blocks for auction, clearance processes and monitoring of operationalisation, and to facilitate automatic issuance of LoI on receipt of the first instalment of upfront payment and/or performance security. The timeline for upfront payment has been rationalised so that the second instalment must be deposited within one year of issuance of the LoI. The rules restrict the additional two years for execution of a mining lease beyond the initial three years to blocks involving forest land.

Further provisions include refund of upfront payment and performance security where auctions are annulled because mining has become impossible for reasons not attributable to the preferred bidder, and an exemption from auction premium for certain critical and strategic minerals where their estimated value is less than ten per cent of block resources. The Ministry described the measures as intended to accelerate mineral development, encourage private sector participation and strengthen the regulatory framework governing mineral auctions.