Kathmandu, June 23 -- The government has proposed a new mining law that would grant the state exclusive authority over the extraction of minerals deemed strategic or of national importance.

The draft bill, prepared by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies to amend and consolidate laws related to mines and minerals, states that if such minerals are mined through a company, it must be a company wholly owned by the Nepal government.

According to Ganesh Nath Tripathi, spokesperson for the Department of Mines and Geology, this is the first time Nepal is introducing a separate category for minerals of strategic and national importance.

Section 8 of the draft bill authorises the government to designate any mineral as being of strate...