Bhubaneswar, 20th January 2023 (Pratyusha Bureau): The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) organised Minerals, Mining & Metals Conclave on 20th January, 2023 at Bhubaneswar. The theme of the Conclave was Minerals, Mining and Metals Sectors in a cooperative federalism structure: Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.
The Conclave was addressed by Chief Guest Shri Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Hon’ble Minister in Charge, Department of Steel and Mines and Department of Works, Government of Odisha.
The keynote address was delivered by Guest of Honour, Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government of India.
The other dignitaries who addressed the Conclave were present were Shri Sridhar Patra, Chairman & MD, NALCO, Mr. Tuhin Kumar Mukherjee, Chairperson, Minerals and Mining Committee, BCC&I and Advisor- Mineral Resource & Mining, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Pankaj Satija, MD, Tata Steel Mining, Mr. Kaushal K Sinha, Executive VP and Member of Management Board, M.N. Dastur & Co. and Member, Minerals and Mining Committee and Metals Committee, BCC&I, Mr. Prabodh Mohanty, MD, SNM Group, Mr. Sauvick Mazumder, COO-Mining, JSW, Mr. Debadatta Dey, Manager, Mining, Tata Steel Joda.
Guest of Honour Shri Naveen Jindal, Chairman, JSPL addressed the Conclave virtually on Atmanirbhar Bharat: Building Infrastructure for the Growth of Mining and Metals Industries.
The Conclave was also attended by Mr. Pankaj Lochan Mohanty, CMD, MGM Minerals.
Chief Guest, Shri Prafulla Kumar Mallik, Hon’ble Minister in Charge, Department of Steel and Mines and Department of Works, Government of Odisha mentioned that Odisha accounts for country’s 92% Chromite, 92% Nickel, 52% Bauxite, 24% Coal and 33% Iron ore and 35% Manganese reserve. During 2020-21, the total production of minerals was to the tune of 293.648 million tonnes with despatch of 325.495 million tonnes, which has increased to 362.40 million tonnes and 358.88 million tonnes respectively during 2021-22. During the current year, the total production and despatch of minerals up to 17th January’2023 stand at 302.06 million tonnes and 295.07 million tonnes respectively.
From an installed capacity of about 4 Million Tonnes per Annum of crude steel in the year 1999-2000, the State of Odisha has progressed to have, as of now, 47 steel industries with total capacity of over 33 MTPA which is about one fourth of the country’s total installed capacity. Besides, the pellet plants in the State have an installed capacity of about 29 million tonnes per annum and the Sponge Iron Plants have an installed capacity of around 15 million tonnes.
In fact, 12 MTPA mega green field Steel project together with 32 MTPA pellet plant proposed by JSW has been given in-principle approval. In addition, Tata Steel Kalinganagar, Duburi is going for capacity enhancement in 2nd phase of their expansion from the present level of 3 MTPA to 8 MTPA and Rourkela Steel Plant is also likely to go for capacity expansion from present level of 4.5 MTPA to 7.5 MTPA and projected 10 MTPA by 2030-31.
The State of Odisha has ensured a timely and effective implementation of the amended provisions of law and as has been presented, Odisha has become the leading State in successfully conducting auction of the 37 mineral blocks so far including 22 expired mining leases.
Steps are also being taken for intensifying the mineral exploration in the State so that more and more mineral blocks can be brought to readiness for auction.
All the above initiatives of successful auction of mineral blocks and timely operationalisation of the said mining leases have resulted in constant growth of mining revenue for the State. As against Rs.11,020 crores and Rs.13,791 crores of mining revenue during 2019-20 and 2020-21, the State has been able to collect Rs.49,858 crores of mining revenue during 2021-22. The collection of Mining Revenue during 2022-23 up to 17th January’2023 stands at Rs.28973.43 crores.
As such the State of Odisha is now one of the leading States in the country to have conducted successful auction of mineral blocks and operationalisation of the same, for which the State of Odisha received the Rashtriya Khanij Vikas Puraskar first prize for the best performing state in taking initiatives in exploration, auction and operationalisation of mines. It carries Rs.3 crore prize money.
Odisha has implemented an effective online system named Integrated Mineral & Mines Management System (i3MS) since 2011-12 for tracking end to end transaction of minerals, i.e. from extraction in the mines to transportation and consumption at the end-use units. This has facilitated to ensure an effective and transparent mineral administration in the State. Now, there is no scope to extract minerals beyond the approved limit of production under different statutory clearances. No mineral transportation can be undertaken without a permit duly issued online by the competent authority. The mineral carriers have also been registered under i3MS with provision of GPS tracking system. This robust online system has helped in detecting unlawful mineral extraction or transportation, if any, thereby plugging the leakage of mining revenue in the State. This has led to a constant growth of mining revenue of the State over the years.
In regards to the minor mineral sector, the State is also taking adequate steps for identification of new minor mineral sources and bringing them to the process of operation. The revenue from the minor mineral resources stood at INR 680 crores in the previous financial year.
Further, strengthening of mineral exploration, mineral resource mapping, establishment of a core library, upgradation of i3MS etc. are various initiatives taken up under the 5T strategy adopted by the State with the direction of Hon’ble Chief Minister, Shri Naveen Patnaik.
It is a major challenge for the mineral industries of our country to focus for proper utilisation of lower grade minerals which are never put to use because we do not have a requisite technology to use. By utilising these lower grade minerals we can protect the environment and prevent misutilisation and non-use of these minerals. In many advanced countries, they use the technology in the downstream industries thereby utilising the resources properly and effectively.
Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Government of India in his address mentioned that Odisha is a good example of cooperative federalism structure and mining led growth. Only 7 to 8 years ago, the state used to get approximately 5000 crore revenue from the mining sector but last year it became 50,000 crore which in return led to quality education, healthcare and better infrastructure. The Central Government via GSI publishes geological reports which is the first step in mineral extraction. The Central Government prepares the legal framework, but the auction is done by the state govt. Revenue, DMF, royalty goes to the state government. So both the central and state government works together and thus the mining and mineral sector is a good example of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas.
The National Geoscience Data Repository System is being created which will enable seamless understanding of the data, appreciation of what lies where, how much should one bid and then linking it to the auction process. We need to encourage the private sector in exploration. 13 private sector exploration agencies have already been approved , they have taken up projects, and we believ that within this year, we will be able to sanction projects where private exploration agencies shall do the work and the state governments can also engage these agencies if their own exploration companies are constrained in any way.
The year ending in March, 2 months from now, 160 fresh mineral blocks have been put up for auction so there has been a tremendous increase in auctioning process.
