The recently announced National Mining Policy, while seemingly positive from above, is a list of aspirations made without tracking the necessary reforms.
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The National Mineral Policy-NMP 2019 has been published by the Ministry of Mines of the Central Government in place of the Mineral Extraction Act (2018) of the Government of India. This policy was very urgent and was announced at the right time. However, many of these issues need to be discussed in detail. Over the last decade, India's mineral production sector has faced many challenges. Illegal and unscientific mining, trampling of environmental and legal alternatives, increasing number of fatal accidents in mining operations and lack of investment are some of the issues facing the sector.
Currently, mining is banned in Goa and Karnataka. Mines in Odisha and Jharkhand, which were once the largest producers of minerals, are closing down day by day. Overall mineral production has also declined. As a result, the employment opportunities available to mining professionals and contract workers have also begun to take hold. As a result, the future of thousands of young graduates in geology and mineralogy is likely to be plunged into darkness.
Last year, in 2018, India imported large quantities of gold, diamonds, iron ore, coal and manganese. As a result, the country had to bear a trade deficit of Rs 3 lakh crore. All these treasures are still abundant in India. However, these minerals have not been found in large quantities anywhere in the country in the last decade and no significant efforts have been made in this direction. In contrast, the global mineral sector has grown exponentially. The number of investments there is also on the rise.
Against this backdrop, the National Mining Policy (NMP 2019) has been announced to give a better impetus to the country's mining sector. The policy was expected to be an ambitious step towards sustainable economic growth by reviving India's mining industry. But in light of the global transition in this area, very modest improvements in this policy have been suggested.
The objectives of the National Mineral Policy (NMP 2019) state that, “The exploration, extraction and management of minerals should be in line with the overall objectives and vision of the country. So that it can be implemented with a commitment to the overall functioning of the country's economic development. ” But, on the one hand, this policy of the Government of India, while commenting on the economic policies of the mining sector, does not contain any significant provisions as to the future security of India's mineral resources. Similarly, it does not appear to have played a clear role in addressing the fundamental challenges facing the sector in terms of the country's economic development.
With the support of National Mining Policy (NMP 2019), the government was required to come up with a blueprint for how the mining sector's contribution to the country's gross annual product (GDP) would double in the next seven years. This would have made it possible to re-assess India's mineral resources and focus on how to add to it.
India is rich in abundant supply of essential minerals such as crude steel, coal, limestone and manganese in the development of infrastructure. Similarly, the mining industry in India has the capacity to produce rare metals required for the development of new technologies. Various high-tech products use lithium, niobium, tatalum, vanadium, cobalt, titanium and some rare earth metals. However, in the last several decades, there has not been an adequate supply of these metals, despite their demand, as abundant reserves of these metals have not been found in the country's mining sector.
On the other hand, even though India is a large market for metals based on new technology, at present we have to import almost all these metals. Because these new technologies are just as rare as metals that have come to light, finding them is a daunting task. When it comes to ownership issues, one has to think about the extent to which one can benefit from their excavations. Also, since modern metal refining technology has to be relied upon, its market consumption has to be taken into consideration while developing a metal product that has gone through all this.
The new policy, then, needed to be guided by a new era of value-based mining industry and the acquisition of intellectual property rights for the development of products from mineral resources. Of course, it also needed to consider sustainable development based on global standards. The security and growth of the mining business in India requires international investment in the entire value chain in the region. With that in mind, the policy was expected to provide clear guidelines for diverting competitive investment from around the world to India.
Today, worldwide efforts are being made to make significant changes in mining methods using new tools and technologies to reduce the force and cost involved in all processes from mineral exploration to extraction. Among the big miners, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Barrick Gold, Newmont, along with product and technology service providers, have launched the "Mine of the Future." An ambitious plan called
Considering the current changes taking place in the mining sector around the world, India should now focus on developing new age tools and technologies based on local resources in the mining sector. It is also important to encourage potential mentors in the field to keep the intellectual property behind it in their hands. Which will allow us to establish our dominance in the international mining sector. But the government's new policy does not adequately comment on the services sector in the mining industry, which could play a key role in regional development.
Although the mining business in India is a means of subsistence for a very large population, the nature and environment of the region in which it operates is still protected from man-made disturbances. The area around the mines is home to a wide variety of species of animals, birds and plants that are not found elsewhere. Therefore, running the mining industry responsibly without compromising this rich environment and working to increase the quality of production through it should be a priority measure for the progress of the mining business in India.
The mining industry, on the other hand, is often blamed by the country's judiciary and citizens for the chaos in environmental protection and social management. The new policy was expected to include the necessary policies to improve the mining business, as well as measures to mitigate global climate change threats, manage water security and improve land, water and air quality, and of course measures to improve mining. Adequate attention should also be paid to the health and safety of the workers.
Unfortunately, the recent National Mining Policy-2019, no matter how positive it may seem on the outside, is not. At present, however, it is just a list of purposeless and immediate aspirations expressed by many in the mining industry. So, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the same policy of driving goats from camels without tracking the necessary reforms in this area is found in this announced policy.
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