Balancing Mineral Extraction and Environmental Regulation: An Analysis of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the 2023 Amendment

In recent past we have witnessed India’s mineral sector being reshaped into a competitive commercial market, instead of its traditional image as a discretionary licensing system. The repeatedly amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, with the recent amendments of 2015 and 2023, presently allocates mineral franchise largely through auctions, and has made available exploration and critical minerals to a wide private presence. This paper asks whether the amended Act, read with the surrounding environmental framework, balances mineral extraction against environmental protection legal system. It argues that the reforms have redesigned mining as a market while leaving environmental compliance outside the ambit of the incentive structure of that market, so that concession holders, who have the greatest control over environmental outcomes, face weak financial and governance incentives to comply. Using a doctrinal method, the paper tracks the statutory evolution of the Act, inspects the 2023 Amendment, reviews the judicial response, and then evaluates three management law mechanisms: auction design, the District Mineral Foundation alongside corporate social responsibility, and sustainability disclosure. It identifies five problems and suggests a corresponding reform for each: baseline screening at the exploration stage, earlier environmental scrutiny in the allocation process, environmental weighting in auctions, community-centred use of mining levies, and mine-level disclosure. Keywords: mining regulation; MMDR Act; 2023 Amendment; critical minerals; environmental governance; District Mineral Foundation.