Delegation of CII for the Steel and the Mines Industries called on the Union Minister for Steel, Mines, Labour and Employment Narendra Singh Tomar here today. The Steel delegation led by C.S. Verma, CMD, SAIL, while Dr. Nik Senapati, MD, Rio Tinto India Pvt. Ltd. led the Mines delegation. The Secretary, Ministry of Steel Shri G. Mohan Kumar and the Secretary, Mines Dr. Anup K. Pujari were also present. The Steel industry expressed its confidence that the target of 300 million tonnes of steel production per annum by 2025 would be possible if the various constraints were addressed. The constraints raised by them related to land acquisition, connectivity, infrastructure, raw material availability and timely regulatory approvals.
The Mines delegation expressed confidence that the country has extremely large geological potential. They stressed the regulatory framework needs streamline to unlock this potential they made suggestions that the legal requirement is to provide timely disposal of licenses seamless transaction from prospecting to mining leases and transferability. Forest and Environmental clearances in a timely manner would also help the industry.
On the occasion, Narendra Singh Tomar said that government is keen in bringing about a transparent policy for exploitation of mineral resources of the country and the mineral industry’s suggestion will help in formulation a policy on mining. He mentioned that the Government is keen that the growth with its attendant benefits to the population at large. He said that Government will coordinate with all stakeholders so that the interests of environmental and rehabilitation issues are also adequately addressed along with exploitation.