National Conclave on Mines & Minerals – Takeaways for Indian Steel Industry

The Ministry of Mines jointly with state government of Chhattisgarh organized 1st National Conclave On Mines & Minerals (NCMM) at Raipur (Chhattisgarh) on 4 & 5 Jul’16. The conclave aimed at providing an interactive platform to showcase the recent policy reforms taken by the government of India and enable discussion on the issues, challenges and opportunities in the mining sector.

The two day conclave was bestowed with presence of Mr. Arun Jaitley (Union Finance Minister), Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar (Union Mines & Steel Minister), Mr. Balvinder ( Union Mines Secretary) to name a few. It also witnessed participation of government officials from steel & mines department, FIMI, officials from respective state govts’, PSU’s, private steel biggies and other participants from steel ministry.

Highlights of NCMM –

1. National Mineral Exploration Policy was launched to accelerate the exploration activities with enhanced participation of the private sector.
2. 20 mines were awarded “star rating” for their efforts taken for implementation of sustainable development frame work (SDF). The iron ore mines which received 5-star rating were – Tata Steel Noamundi Mines (Jharkhand), Vedanta’s Codli mines (South Goa) and SMIORE (Karnataka). The iron ore mines that received 4-star rating were – NMDC Donimalai Mines (Karnataka), SAIL Kiriburu mines (Jharkhand),Rungta Jajang mines (Odisha) and Vyasankere mines (Karnataka).
3. 7 mineral blocks have been auctioned so far. For around 31 blocks NIT’s have been issued. It is expected that nearly 60-70 blocks will be auctioned by Mar’17. Apart from this, recently launched National Mineral Exploration policy has paved way 100 blocks that have been identified by Geological Survey of India (GSI).
4. Illegal mining system to be detected with the help of Mining Surveillance system (MSS) and Bhaskaracharya Institute For Space Applications and Geo-Informatics (BISAG).
5. Mineral production in country to undergo a boost. Chhattisgarh’s iron ore production to touch 60 MnT by FY21. Pending lease renewal cases also to be sought which would further add to India’s mineral production.
6. To facilitate transparency, MoD has relaxed restriction on sharing of data in public domain. MoEF is expected to revise guidelines for mineral exploration and aero geophysical survey of OGP areas.
7. IBM officials shared that they would come up with two new slabs Fe 45 to below Fe 50%, and Fe 50 to below Fe 55%.
8. India may alter the list of steel items that attract a minimum import price if the country decides to continue with the protectionist measure beyond Aug’16.
9. Speed up the utilization of funds collected from District Mineral Foundation (DMF). Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley inaugurated 5 pilot projects to be implemented in Dantewada (Chhattisgarh) under Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY).
10. Announcement of skill plans for skill development in mining sector.