The issue of uranium mining in Meghalaya is set to spark again after the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) through a new Office Memorandum (OM) dated September 8, 2025 which exempts uranium and other rare earth minerals from the purview of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
As per the OM, new mining projects of atomic minerals (such as uranium, thorium), critical minerals and strategic minerals (such as rare earth elements) being started in India will require no comments from the general public or public hearings. That is because these projects are related to “national defence, security needs and strategic considerations”, according to the Ministry.
The new OM says that all mining projects involving atomic minerals notified in Part B of the First Schedule of the Minerals and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and critical and strategic minerals notified in Part D are exempted from public hearing.
Part-B includes uranium and thorium-containing minerals such as monazite, pitchblende, rare earth minerals, phosphorite, ilmenite, rutile, zircon and sillimanite obtained from beach sand. Twenty-four important minerals have been included in Part-D. These include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, gallium, indium, molybdenum, niobium, rare earth (without uranium-thorium), tungsten, tantalum, titanium, vanadium, potash, phosphate, selenium, tellurium, rhenium and platinum group elements as well as minerals like beryllium, cadmium, tin and zirconium.
The exemption has been granted in response to a recent request made by the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). The OM says that such projects will be subjected to a “comprehensive appraisal” by concerned sectoral expert appraisal committees, and they will be appraised at the central level, irrespective of the project size, but this “promise” does not ease the suspicions in people’s minds.
Regarding the exemption of public hearing, the Ministry argued that “An Office Memorandum (OM) dated March 13, 2025, was issued to consider all mining projects of critical and strategic minerals “out of turn” so that clearances can be given to these proposals quickly. It was said that this OM was issued because these critical and strategic minerals are essential for the progress of many sectors of the country, including high-tech electronics, telecommunications, transport and defence and, are also important for India to meet its commitment of ‘net zero’ by 2070.
Meghalaya has 23,268 tons of uranium deposits of which the maximum is in the Domiasiat area of South West Khasi Hills. The Kylleng – Pyndengsohiong – Mawthabah area in Domiasiat has 9,500 tons of uranium deposits. Another area where huge deposit of uranium was found was Wahkyn – Wahkut where the deposit is 9,764 tons. Four areas have small deposits of uranium. They include Gomaghat – Phlangdiloin (1,000 tons), Umthongkut (1,535 tons), Tyrnai (600 tons) and Lostoin (869 tons).
The new OM has created unease across states in the country especially Meghalaya, where past attempts to extract the mineral have repeatedly run into local resistance due to health, environmental and rights-related concerns.
Public hearings are a crucial component of the environmental clearance process, particularly for projects that may have significant environmental and social impacts. There is nothing more ominous for the future of the tribal community than having massive mining projects on their lands. Especially worrying is the mining of uranium and its related processes which have radiation concerns.
People here are aware of the fall-out of uranium mining having seen sustained anti-uranium mining campaigns over the years since the 1990s. Jadugoda is a familiar name here and rings a warning bell in the minds of people. Over the years, politicians and youth leaders of this state have made many excursions to that region. The resistance has been strong and consistent. Now, this new OM is seen as a tool to silence the voice of the people chipping away public and democratic rights. Already, ruling the National People’s Party youth leaders themselves are sparking out their concerns and seeking retraction of this OM or exemption from it for Meghalaya. As things stand today, the issue seems set to divide opinions, even within the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance 2.0 government. Once again the people will brace for the tumultuous times that are ahead as the fight to mine or not to mine uranium begins again.
