Kishan Reddy heralds new chapter in mining operations

Hyderabad: Union Minister for Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy stressed the opportunity to leverage the blue economy to build a self-reliant ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision.

On Thursday, while addressing an event held in the national capital marking the significant event of the first Offshore Minerals Blocks auction programme, he said that a new chapter in offshore mining is about to begin in the nation.

“We are advancing in line with the vision of Prime Minister Modi, who often says that a greener planet is achievable through a blue economy”. H said that the Offshore Mineral Development Act of 2002 was implemented in 2010; however, the auction process was stalled for 13 years due to litigation and other challenges.

“We have identified 21 lakh acres of offshore mineral capacity in India. This initiative will propel India's mining sector toward becoming a developed nation. Few countries globally are engaged in offshore mining, and today India joins this select group,” he added.

Currently, the demand for renewable energy equipment and electric vehicles is increasing and will continue to grow. Consequently, the demand for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel will also rise. International agencies estimate that by 2030, the offshore minerals market could reach nearly Rs 1 lakh crore. Presently, the country is importing various critical minerals in large quantities.

This poses a challenge but also presents a remarkable opportunity for India. The Union Minister said that we see vast potential for advancing in the field of critical minerals, and we will soon launch the Critical Mineral Mission in India, he said.

Further, the government Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) has initiated exploration activities for critical minerals abroad through U Kabil, focusing on five lithium blocks in Argentina. Apart from that, India is also in discussions with several other countries. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Critical Mineral Mission. Remarkably, within just five months of the announcement, the country made significant progress. He said that in the coming days, more auctions will be conducted in this sector. For this, steps have been taken to collaborate with private organisations alongside government PSUs to achieve better results.

Kishan Reddy said that from 2004 to 2015, state revenues from the sector amounted to Rs 60,000 crore, which has now surged to Rs 2.54 lakh crore for 2024-2025, representing an almost four-fold increase in revenue for the states.