In a sudden U-turn, the mines ministry has decided against asking miners from mandatorily sharing 26 per cent of net profits with the affected local population. Instead, it has proposed that miners set aside 26 per cent of the royalty they pay to states for sharing with locals. This dramatically changes what locals will get if the proposal becomes law. For example, for a tonne of iron ore which costs about Rs 8,000 today, royalty paid is 10 per cent or about Rs 800. But net profit for a miner could be as high as Rs 7,000. In a note to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who chairs the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to vet the draft Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Bill 2010, Mines Minister Dinsha Patel has argued that calculating profits earned by various mining companies was a difficult exercise