Mining Workshop at Sambhaavnaa Institute: December 14th-16th, 2012

Overview of mining in India

Claude Alvares of the Goa Foundation introduced the workshop with an overall perspective on mining issues. The Goa Foundation, which he represents, has been working on mining issues in Goa for the last 20 years.

According to Claude, the most dramatic changes in mining in these two decades came in 1992. Before this year, the bulk of mining was done through public sector corporations. In 1992, FDI in mining was allowed and the private sector was encouraged to get into the business of mining. In order to facilitate the entry of these new actors, a new Bill was proposed to replace the 1957 MMDR Act. In the new legislation – which has been approved by the cabinet – the total lease area in any given state that can be granted to a mining company has been expanded to 100 sq km whereas the 1957 Act restricted lease area to only 10 sq km. There are other changes of similar nature.

The central government came out with an new National Mineral Policy in 2008. The principal focus of the document has been on privatisation of the mining industry.
Another big benchmark for the mining business arose with the Chinese boom which commenced around 2004-05. Chinese demand was fuelled by the need for the Chinese 2008 Olympics. China’s production of iron and steel was already 500 million tons (MT) whereas that of India was not more than 30 MT. India’s ambition is now to produce 150 MT by the year 2020 whereas China’s target is already 750 MT. Like the US, China has a policy of building reserves and maximising exploitation of external sources.

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