ICC organises India Minerals & Metals Forum 2012

India’s vision for 2020: Achieving international standards in terms of consumption

New Delhi, July 11, 2012: Indian Chamber of Commerce in association with the Ministry of Steel, Coal and Mines, Government of India and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt Ltd. today organised the ‘India Minerals and Metals Forum 2012’ at the Hotel Le Meridian.

 

Mr. Rajiv Mundhra, President Elect, Indian Chamber of Commerce inaugurated the session followed by a theme address by Mr. S. K. Roongta, Chairman – Summit & Managing Director, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd. Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, Hon’ble Minister of Coal, Government of India who was the chief guest at the event addressed more than 140 delegates from ferrous and non-ferrous metals & minerals industry and association.

 

On the sidelines, the knowledge partner Deloitte released a report highlighting challenges facing the Indian Mining Industry and Global Insights. The report also throws light on the organic growth in Mining Industry and challenges of overseas investment in the Mining sector.

 

Minerals and Metals sector have always been in the forefront of a nation’s economy and India is no exception. Both ferrous and non ferrous metals are equally important towards building up the country’s future. Non ferrous metals are gradually taking the centre stage and the time is not far when it will be regarded as the future. India’s non-ferrous metal industry, mainly consisting of aluminium, copper, lead and zinc has travelled a long way from where it was a decade ago. In the next decade, the industry is expected to see a dramatic turnaround with lots of expansion plans running at full capacity.

Mr. Rajiv Mundhra, President Elect, Indian Chamber of Commerce said, “The country is heading towards becoming a global player in non ferrous metal industry with most of production plants tapping potentials in the foreign markets. However, the Indian iron ore mining industry, in 2011-12, has been severely affected by events related to regulation, policy and other environmental concerns.”

 

Mr. Sriprakash Jaiswal, Hon’ble Minister of Coal, Government of India stated, “The environmental challenges are going to be more stringent in the years to come and the coal producers and consumers would need to address the issues for sustaining the projected growth in our energy planning through adoption of state-of-the-art technologies and human resource.” He further added, “By 2031 the coal requirement in India would be 2 billion tonnes and import dependence would stand in the range of 36-55 per cent. Due to the international coal price volatility the economics of power generation in India is getting hampered and it is creating a cost pressure on the consumers, therefore the government is trying to boost coal production and is also looking at PPP in coal sector to meet the rising demand.”

 

Others present during the summit were Ms Natasha Singh Sinha, Director – Finance, MESCO Steels Ltd, Mr S K Das, Director – Commercial, NMDC and Dr Thibedi Ramontja, Director General, Department of Mineral Resources, Republic of South Africa.

 

The mines and minerals sector today constitutes a vast expanding canvas. On one hand, achievements in mineral technologies are constantly providing new opportunities, but on the other, globalization in all its socio economic dimensions is posing increasingly complex challenges. The strategies to meet the increasing demand of raw material and to mitigate the adverse impacts have therefore to be a part of the mineral development strategy. As such, the role of mining legislation for any country needs to be formulated in terms of strategies best serving to national interest in the competitive world.

 

 

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