Pralhad Joshi urges states to be proactive in auctioning mining blocks

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has said that the Ministry of Mines is contemplating an amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to bring about tangible reforms in the mining sector of the country.

He urged the mining sector to increase the contribution of the sector to the country's GDP to 2.5 per cent and also urged the states to be proactive in auctioning mining blocks.

Addressing a function organized by the Ministry of Mines here today for handing over 100 G4 mineral blocks reports of Geological Survey of India (GSI) to different state governments, Joshi said the Ministry of Mines is in the process of finalizing the accreditation process "for private exploration entities".

The Minister called upon the states that received the mining block reports to act on them without any delay to make the auction process faster.

He asked the Ministry of Mines to make more financial assistance available to the states.

Noting that a proactive approach by state governments can bring about tangible reforms in mining, he said that despite having the fourth largest coal reserves, India is still importing thermal coal.

"Our mineral potential is no way less than other mineral-rich countries like Australia" he said.

According to an official release, the Minister said that mining is crucial for both Aatmanirbhar Bharat as well as for India to become a USD 5-trillion economy.

The minister said that during the past decades the mining sector was mired in controversies and choked by political apathy and the Narendra Modi government has taken several transformative initiatives to invigorate the mining sector and accelerate mineral exploration in the country.

Minister of State for Mines, Coal and Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve, who addressed the function virtually, said that the mining process by the states needs to be initiated at the earliest so that other sectors like energy and transportation also get the right fillip.

Out of fourteen states that received the mining block reports today, Madhya Pradesh received the maximum number at 21 followed by Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with nine reports each.

( With inputs from ANI )