The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Central government to prepare a comprehensive Management Plan for Sustainable Mining (MPSM) applicable across the Aravalli hill system, which spanned across the States of Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat, along with the national capital.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria prohibited the grant of any new mining licences within the Aravalli landscape till the finalisation of the plan by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
The Apex Court passed the order while hearing proceedings related to widespread mining activities and ecological degradation in the Aravalli ranges.
Noting that environmental protection must be pursued through a feasible regulatory framework, the Bench declined to impose an absolute prohibition on mining. It further observed that total bans have historically encouraged illegal extraction, criminal syndication, and parallel market activity.
In May 2024, the Apex Court had observed that different States had adopted inconsistent definitions of ‘Aravalli Hills’ and ‘Aravalli Range,’ impairing uniform enforcement.
A high-powered Committee was appointed to standardise the definitions and propose protective measures, which submitted its report in October 2025, recommending a scientifically determinable topographical benchmark for classification.
The Supreme Court accepted the Committee’s framework, which defined any landform within designated districts having a local relief of 100 metres or more as a hill and described the Aravalli Range as a grouping of two or more such hills within 500 metres of each other, measured from the lowest contour boundaries.
The Bench ruled that a uniform technical definition was indispensable for regulatory certainty and effective oversight. It also accepted the recommendation that mining be prohibited in core or inviolate zones, other than in exceptional circumstances involving essential, strategic, or atomic mineral extraction.
The Apex Court, however, declined to impose a complete ban across the region on the grounds that the objective of environmental conservation must be pursued through scientifically supervised, legally accountable mineral development rather than blanket restriction.
Drawing parallels to the structured assessment conducted by the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) for the Saranda and Chaibasa mining belts in Jharkhand, the Bench ordered that a similar ecological and geological evaluation be carried out for the Aravalli ranges.
The MoEFCC was directed to prepare an MPSM in consultation with ICFRE, ensuring that mining permissions in the region were guided not by administrative expediency but by demonstrable ecological capacity and sustainability metrics.
The Apex Court clarified that the MPSM must identify the areas that may accommodate regulated mining, zones requiring complete prohibition owing to fragility or ecological significance, and areas demanding careful restoration and rehabilitation following extraction.
The plan must incorporate assessments of cumulative environmental impact, hydrogeological carrying capacity, biodiversity implications, and long-term landscape stability, said the Bench, adding that it should also establish a framework for post-mining land reclamation and ecological restitution in keeping with the precautionary principle and the established principles of sustainable development in Indian environmental jurisprudence.
The top court of the country ordered that until the MPSM was finalised and officially notified, no new mining licences be granted in the Aravalli region. No further mining permissions should be granted without ensuring preservation of the continuity and structural integrity of the range, it ordered.
Mining operations already underway may continue, but only in strict conformity with the Committee’s recommendations. Future mining authorisations must conform to the MPSM and be granted only where sustainable operation is scientifically validated, it added.
The Bench highlighted the ecological significance of the Aravalli system, stating that it housed 22 wildlife sanctuaries, four tiger reserves, Keoladeo National Park, multiple critical wetlands, and aquifers feeding major river systems including the Chambal, Sabarmati, Luni, Mahi, and Banas.
If it were administratively necessary, the Ministry may prepare district-level management plans, provided that the plans remained consistent with a unified ecological framework for the entire Aravalli landscape, ordered the Court.
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