Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA)

22 Mineral (auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026: Implications for the Limestone and Cement Sector Bhanu Prakash Bhatnagar B.E. Mining Engg. (Gold Medal), FCC, MBA, Head Mining & Geology, Ambuja Cement Ltd, Group company of Adani, Adani Corporate House, Shantigram, Ahmedabad 03 Abstract: The Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026, notified on 30 March 2026, represent a continuation of the Government of India's calibrated reform trajectory in the mineral sector. Since the introduction of the auction regime under the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015, mineral governance has progressively shifted from an allocation centric framework to one grounded in performance and outcome based regulation. This evolution reflects a sustained policy emphasis on accountability, time bound development and efficient utilisation of mineral resources, particularly bulk and infrastructure linked minerals such as limestone. The amendment seeks to address a persistent and widely acknowledged gap between the auctioning of mineral blocks and their timely operationalization, an issue that has remained central to mineral sector reforms for over a decade. A decisive inflection point was reached with the October 2025 amendment, which introduced binding post-auction timelines, financial disincentives for delay and incentives for early operationalisation. This marked a clear departure from the earlier regime of open-ended execution periods that had materially contributed to delays and under utilisation of auctioned mineral blocks. The 2026 amendment builds upon this foundation and may best be characterised as a second order reform. Rather than focusing solely on further tightening of timelines, it targets structural frictions that continued to impede mine development, most notably delays arising from statutory clearances, fragmented administrative processes and instances where auctioned blocks were only partially or practically infeasible. These challenges have been particularly pronounced in large, capital intensive sectors such as limestone mining and cement manufacturing, where project viability depends critically on synchronised regulatory approvals and predictable execution pathways. Systematic approach to constraints in the existingmineral auction framework Despite earlier reforms, several structural constraints had continued to impede the timely operationalisation of auctioned mineral blocks. The Mineral (Auction) Second Amendment Rules, 2026 seek to address these bottlenecks in a targeted manner.