Construction Industry News
The Advisory Committee on the Ministry of Coal and Mines met on 19 September in the annex of the Parliament Building to assess the performance of the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET). During the session, a press release from the Ministry of Coal reported that the Union's Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, had highlighted the government's commitment to improving mineral exploration with the aim of achieving self-reliance in mineral production.
He said Joshi had highlighted the importance of India's recently published list of 30 critical minerals, highlighting the ongoing efforts to speed up the auction process for these critical minerals in the country. The primary focus of the meeting was the "Performance of NMET with respect to its role and responsibility in advancing exploration in the country. The Ministry of Mines, headed by VL Kantha Rao, secretary, gave the committee members an overview of NMET's performance. It was pointed out that 25 percent of the project cost had been allocated as an incentive for deep-rooted and critical mineral exploration. With a view to promoting mineral exploration, NMET had approved 309 projects with a total value of Rs 21 billion for regional and detailed exploration across the country.
These projects were carried out by various Notified Exploration Agencies and Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NEAs & NPEAs). Of the 309 projects approved, 151 had already been successfully completed, the rest were still in progress. In addition, eleven blocks were auctioned by the respective state governments, resulting in an estimated yield of Rs 1.69 trillion for the country over the lifetime of the mines.
