 bui no 17 of ih9 the oilfields (regulation and development) amendment bill, [969 a billfurther to amend the oilfields (regulation and development) act, 1948 be it enacted by parliament in the twentieth year of the republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the oilfields (regulation and develop- short ment) amendment act, 1969 title and s (2) it shall be deemed to have come into force on the 1st day of com  - of 1mb10 is january, 1968 mence ment z in sub-section (2) of section 6 of the oilftelds (regulation and amend development) act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act), ment ot for clause (i), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-;ectlon "(i) the collection of royalties, and the levy and collection of fees or taxes, in respect of mineral oils mined, quarried, excavated or collected;" , 3 after section s of the principal act, the following section shall be inser inserted, namely: -tion of new lee tion sa "sa (1) the holder of a mining lease granted before the com- royal mencement of the oilftelds (regulation and development) amend- tie 1n respect of mineral oils ment a!t, 1969, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the instrument of lease or in any law in force at such commencement, pay royalty in respect of any mineral oil mined, quarried, excavated or collected by him from the leased area after such commencement, at the rate for the time being specified in the schedule in respect of - 5 that mineral oil (2) the holder of a mining lease granted on or after the commencement of the oilfields (regulation and development) amendment act, 1969, shall pay royalty in respect of any mineral oil mined, quarried, excavated or collected by him from the leased area at the 10 rate for the time being specified in the schedule in respect of that mineral oil i i (3) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), no royalty shall be payable in respect of any crude oil, casing-head condensate or natural gas which is unavoidably lost is or is returned to the reservoir or is used for drilling or other operations relating to the production of petroleum or natural gas, or both (4) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, amend the schedule so as to enhance or reduce the rate at which royalty shall be payable in respect of any mineral oil with 20 effect from such date as may be specified in the notification: provided that the central government shall not-(a) fix the rate of royalty in respect of any mineral oil to as to exceed twenty per cent of the sale price of the mineral oil at the oilfields or the oil well-head, as the case may be, or 25 (b) enhance the rate of royalty in respect of any mineral oil more than once during any period of four years" 4 after section 14 of the principal act, the following schedule shall be inserted, namely:-insertion of new schedule 30  "the schedule(see section 6a)  rates of royaltyrupees ten per metric tonne 1 crude oil: 2 casing-head condensate: rupees ten per metric tonne 3 natural' gas: 1 ten per cent of the value of the 35 natural gas obtained at well-head" sections 5 and 6 of the oilfte1ds (regulation and development) act 1948 (53 of 1948) empower the central government to make rules fo; regulating ~e grant of mining leases and for prohibiting the grant of such leases in respect of any mineral oil as also for the development of mineral oil resources clause (i) of sub-section 2 of section 6 of the act empowers the central government to make rules for "the levy and collection of royalties, fees or taxes in respect of mineral ous, mined, quarried, excavated or collected" the petroleum and natural gas rules, 1959 were formulated in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 5 and 6 of the said act rule 14 of the said rules, inter alia, had stipulated that royalty at the rate of rs 750 per metric tonne of crude oil and casing-head condensate and at 10 per cent of the value at the well-head of the natural gas obtained by the lessee, shall be paid the rate of royalty was decided upon by the award of the late prime minister in 1962 this award provided for a review of the rate of royalty after a period of four years this was done and the prime minister has now given an award which provides for an increase in the rate of royalty payable for crude oil, etc from rs 750 to rs 10,000 per metric tonne, with effect from 1st january, 1968 the enhanced' rate has, therefore, to be applied not only to leases granted in future but also retrospectively to all leases with effect from 1st ja;nuary, 1968 this object cannot be achieved by amending the petroleum and natural gas r~les, 1959 it is necessary to make appropriate provisions in the act itself for imposing a liability to pay enhanced rates of royalty in the existing leases also, notwithstanding anything contained in the instrument of the concerned lease it is, accordingly, considered necessary to amend the oilftelds (regulation and development) act, 1948 80 as to make provisions for the payment of royalty in the act itself and to take power to enhance the royalty by notification subject to limitations analogous to those contained in sub-section (3) of section 9 of the mines and minerals (regulation and development) act, 1957 the bill is designed to give effect to the above proposals new di:lhj; triguna sen the 26th april, 1969 clause 3 of the bill seeks to insert a new section, namely section 6a, in the oilftelds (regulation and development) act, 1948 sub-section (4) of the proposed section 6a confers a power on the central government to enhance or reduce, by notification in the official gazette, the rates of royalty in respect of any mineral oil specified in the schedule and that sub-section further empowers the central government to specify the date from which such enhanced or reduced rates of royalty shall be payable the power proposed to be conferred by the said sub-section is, however, subject to the restrictions specified in the proviso thereto it is not possible to specify the quantum of the increase or decrease of the rates of royalty in the bill the delegation of the legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character  b'raac't nom 'i'd 0drii:uis (rllcnnatlc»1 urn devii:lopmdlt) ac:r, 1948(63 0  1948) - - - - - ment  t (1) - - - - - power k> mw (2) in particular, add without prejudice to the aenerality of uie forerulela, ~ power, such rules may provide for all or my of the followinl retpecv rnattns, namely: _ mineral devejojl-- - - - - (i) the levy and collect1onof royalties, fees or taxes in respect 01 mineral oila mined, quarried excavated or collected; - - - - -  ', "j, a biu fufther 10 amedd the oilfieldl (rega1atiou add developman act, 1948· 