India may stop importing gold, diamond
The Centre has decided to stop the import of gold and diamonds within the next
ten years, with a view to meet the demand from the reserves available within the
country, said Union minister of state for mines T Subbarami Reddy at a seminar
on Friday.
"It is very sad that despite having 9% of the world's gold and diamond deposits India imports gold and diamond worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore every year. We don't even produce a single piece of diamond, while we import 800 tons of gold per annum," Reddy said.
According to him, India has not been able to benefit from its gold and diamond reserves as their extraction requires heavy capital investment and advanced technology. The Centre has decided to give maximum priority to gold and diamond exploration and extraction and given instructions to all concerned, including the ministry of mines and Indian Bureau of Mines in this regard.
"We want to stop gold and diamond imports in 10 years," he said. States like Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that have gold and diamond reserves would benefit from this decision, he told mediapersons.
Later, while addressing a seminar "Mineral East", organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries, the Union minister informed that the new mineral policy would be notified soon and allayed fears about states losing their existing rights under the new policy. "The state governments would have all the existing powers. the Centre would not have any extra power," he said.
The new policy would pave the way for entry of global players with right technology and heavy investment capacity into the country's mining sector, the minister added.
"We have so far succeeded in tapping only 5% of the mineral resources in the country. Even deep mining is not being taken up owing to lack of suitable technology. The present policy is not encouraging huge investment by entrepreneurs as those undertaking prospecting work were not guaranteed mining leases," he said.
"It is very sad that despite having 9% of the world's gold and diamond deposits India imports gold and diamond worth Rs 1.25 lakh crore every year. We don't even produce a single piece of diamond, while we import 800 tons of gold per annum," Reddy said.
According to him, India has not been able to benefit from its gold and diamond reserves as their extraction requires heavy capital investment and advanced technology. The Centre has decided to give maximum priority to gold and diamond exploration and extraction and given instructions to all concerned, including the ministry of mines and Indian Bureau of Mines in this regard.
"We want to stop gold and diamond imports in 10 years," he said. States like Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that have gold and diamond reserves would benefit from this decision, he told mediapersons.
Later, while addressing a seminar "Mineral East", organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries, the Union minister informed that the new mineral policy would be notified soon and allayed fears about states losing their existing rights under the new policy. "The state governments would have all the existing powers. the Centre would not have any extra power," he said.
The new policy would pave the way for entry of global players with right technology and heavy investment capacity into the country's mining sector, the minister added.
"We have so far succeeded in tapping only 5% of the mineral resources in the country. Even deep mining is not being taken up owing to lack of suitable technology. The present policy is not encouraging huge investment by entrepreneurs as those undertaking prospecting work were not guaranteed mining leases," he said.
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