SHILLONG: The government has provided only an option for miners to take help of MMDC to explore the possibility of coal mining, Chief Secretary K.S Kropha said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, Kropha said the government had only suggested the option so that miners can take an independent decision.
According to the chief secretary, MMDC is a route whereby it can take land from individual mine owners on lease to carry out mining till the time the State gets exemption from the Centre on the applications of central mining laws, which will take a long time.
The chief secretary said if mine owners have the expertise, they can carry out mining on their own after submitting mining plans to the Centre.