Centre Orders Complete Ban on New Mining Leases in Aravallis

Udaipur, Dec 25, 2025 - The Centre on Wednesday (December 24) has issued directives to all States (including Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat) for a complete ban on new mining leases in the Aravallis. This ban stretches across the entire Aravalli landscape and is aimed at preserving the integrity of the range, according to a PIB press release.

Additionally, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has also issued instructions to the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) to identify and expand protected zones to safeguard the ecosystem. The government has directed the ICFRE to further identify additional areas/zones in the entire Aravallis, where mining should be prohibited. This identification process should be based on ecological, geological and landscape-level considerations and should be apart from areas which are already prohibited for mining by the Centre.

The ban declaration by the Centre has come on the back of intense protests and agitations amid “Save Our Aravallis’” campaign after the Supreme Court on November 20 accepted the government’s “100-metre definition” of the Aravalli hills. Activists in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana took to the streets against the Court ruling saying this limits legal protections only to areas above 100 metre elevation, potentially exposing lower, ecologically important parts of the range. Protestors highlighted environmental concerns, calling for stronger protection of the Aravallis.

There has been widespread debate over what the new definition means for biodiversity, groundwater recharge, forest cover and regional climate, with both environmentalists and officials protesting the Supreme Court’s acceptance of the Centre’s recommendation

A retired Haryana Forest Department official had submitted a plea in the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s “100-metre definition”. The Court had on December 17 sought responses from the Central, Haryana and Rajasthan governments and the Environment Ministry on the petition.

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