Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Bill 2011: the basic framework
The draft Act starts with a declaration that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union (i.e. Central Government) should take under its control the regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent provided in the Act (Section 2). This declaration arises from the fact that though onshore mineral resources are in general the property of the State Government (offshore mineral resources are the property of the Central Government under Article 297 of the Constitution of India), entry 54 of List I (Union List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India read with Article 246 of the Constitution confers exclusive power on Parliament to make laws in respect of regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent of such declaration and to that extent, the State Government are denuded of the power to make laws on the same subject even though entry 23 of List II (State List) otherwise empowers them to do so.