Indonesia to control issuance of mining permits under new law

Indonesia’s central government will take control of new mining permit issuance under a proposed law submitted to parliament on Wednesday, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to remove red tape and reduce regulations to boost investment.

The government is also seeking to remove a 15,000-hectare (37,000 acres) limit for special mining licences, known as IUPKs, with the size of the mining area to be determined by the government based on a miner’s work plan, according to a copy of the draft bill reviewed by Reuters.

The bill also proposes removing an obligation on miners to supply the domestic market and royalty charges if miners create downstream value by processing mineral ore and coal.

(By Fransiska Nangoy, Tabita Diela and Maikel Jefriando; Editing by Ed Davies and Jane Merriman)