Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah addressed the 6th National Seminar on Mines and Minerals in New Delhi
Since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in
2014 till today the Modi Government has always considered the Mines, Minerals
and Coal Sector as a priority sector
The development of the country is not possible without proper policy making for
the mining sector
After becoming the Prime Minister, giving priority to this sector, Modi has made many successful policy reforms
to make India self-reliant in the coal sector and the fastest growing economy
of the world
Corruption had deepened its roots in the coal sector for decades, there were
court cases regarding allocation in the earlier governments, CAG raised questions
and many allocations had to be canceled
Instead of first come, first serve policy of 2014, Modi government arranged
auction for coal block allocation
There is competition in the mining sector due to the policies of the Modi
government, we have made the allocation process transparent and huge investment
has also drawn into the coal and mines sector
The Modi government has brought transparency, removed barriers and also taken
care of environmental concerns related to the coal sector while formulating policy
Minerals are the nation’s property and should be used to give impetus to the
country's economy in a transparent manner, thus they should be auctioned.
Big changes have taken place in this sector under the leadership of Modi by introducing competition which have
brought results
The sole purpose of the formulation of policies, reforms and changes for the
coal sector by the Narendra Modi government was that India should become
self-reliant in the mines, minerals and coal sector and these sectors should
become a strong pillar of our economy
The Modi government has created proper infrastructure for mineral resources
extracted within the country to be processed into the end products and exported
from India to other markets of the world
Coal production was 566 million tonnes in 2013-14, which reached 777 million
tonnes in 2021-22
Mining sector is the largest employment generating sector after tourism and
aviation sector
I want to tell industrialists associated with the mining sector, that time has
come to change scale, not just the size of their companies. Modi has opened up immense possibilities for
you in the coal sector
By establishing the District Mineral Fund (DMF), Modi has given rights to those
living in mining areas. This will lead to inclusive development of those areas.
So far more than ₹ 63,800 crore have been given under DMF
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah addressed the 6th
'National Seminar on Mines and Minerals' in New Delhi today. Many dignitaries
including Union Minister of Mines, Coal and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi
and Union Minister of State for Mines, Coal and Railways, Raosaheb Patil Danve
were present in the program.
In his address on the occasion, the Union Home Minister said that the
Mines, Minerals and Coal sector has a huge contribution in the economic
development of the country. The development of any country cannot be imagined
without proper policies for its mines and minerals. That is why from the time Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in
2014 till today, the government led by Narendra Modi has always considered it a
priority area. The Government of India has worked to bring transparency, remove
barriers and open it up to the private sector in many ways, as well as taking
into account the environmental concerns related to it while formulating the
policy for this sector. He said that if the minerals extracted from the land
are not used for multiple purposes and are not used to increase industrial
activity and exports of the country, then it will be an activity for personal
gain. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Central Government has
formulated policies in such a way that with these reforms and changes, India
becomes self-reliant in the mines, minerals and coal sector and these sectors
become a strong pillar of our economy.
Amit Shah said that since decades corruption in the coal sector had
deepened its roots, there were court cases regarding allocations during earlier
governments, CAG raised questions and many allocations had to be cancelled. He
said that minerals are the nation’s property and its auction should be
conducted in such a way that the minerals can be used in a transparent manner
to give impetus to the country's economy. Not only revenue, but also the
purpose of their use should be looked into and small and medium businessmen
should have a chance to increase the scale of their business, only then will
there be competition and results will be available. Incorporating all these
aspects, a big change took place in this sector under the leadership of Prime
Minister Modi, which has yielded very good results. He said that on the basis
of an estimate, if there is an increase of one percent in the mine area, then
there is an increase of two and a half percent in our industrial production and
that is why it should be a priority sector. Employment is of great importance
in our country with a population of 130 crore and this is a sector in which one
direct job creates ten indirect jobs. Shah said that the mining and minerals sector
is the largest employment generating sector after aviation and tourism.
The Union Home and Cooperation Minister said minerals are a dwindling
resource and if we look at history, the reason for the decline of many Empires
was the lack of proper use of minerals. We also have to make balanced use of
minerals in development while being aware of this.
We should not be limited to export of raw material only, products made
from mineral resources extracted in the country should also be manufactured in
India and from here they should go to world markets as final products. In the
last 8 years, the government led by Narendra Modi has created the right policy
and proper infrastructure for this. Along with increasing the mining of
minerals, there is a need to make their use multidimensional and bring the
optimum cost of its use to the country's treasury. Despite having a large
amount of coal, we were one of the biggest importers, but today under the
leadership of Pralhad Joshi, we have been successful in reducing the import of
coal to a minimum. There is competition in the mining sector due to the
policies of the government led by Narendra Modi which has made the
allocation process transparent and huge investment have also been drawn into
the coal and mines sector. We have changed all these aspects under these
policies. We have created a coal linkage which no one could have imagined.
Amit Shah said that self-reliant India is not possible without the
mining and mineral sectors. Coal and mining sector reforms and self-reliance of
these sectors are the basic condition to make India self-reliant. He said that
the government led by Narendra Modi has made many changes in the mining sector
in the last eight years. Instead of the first come first serve policy of 2014,
the government led by Narendra Modi arranged for auction of coal blocks.
Corruption had deepened its roots in this area for decades, the government led
by Narendra Modi has uprooted corruption in this area. Between 2015 and 2020,
10 auction chains were conducted, 35 coal blocks were successfully auctioned. A
total of 85 blocks were allotted with a production capacity of 440 million
tonnes. In June 2020, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched commercial coal
mining and ushered in a new era. 100 percent FDI in the coal sector was
allowed, 50 percent profit on early mining in the revenue share is given, many
policy changes like coal gasification, reviving abandoned mines, surrendering
unutilized blocks from PSUs and opening to private companies has been allowed
by the government.
The Home Minister said that production of coal was 566 million tonnes in
2013-14 which reached 777 million tonnes in 2021-22 and off-take was 572
million tonnes which has reached to 818 million tonnes. Up to 50 percent of
captive mines have also been opened for sale, due to which coal has begun to be
mined from within the country instead of having to import. To keep the
cost of production down, Coal India works to provide imported coal at 82
percent discount to coal industrialists, small, medium industries, due to which
they are able to stand on their own in the global market today. He said
that by setting up the District Mineral Fund (DMF), Narendra Modi has given
rights to those living in mining areas, this will lead to inclusive development
of those areas, so far more than Rs. 63,800 crore under the DMF has been given.
Amit Shah said that we also have to take care of the environment and in
this area too the government led by Narendra Modi has done much work. He said
that along with the mines and minerals sector, the government led by Narendra Modi has created an entire ecosystem
because there is a need for a market to sell minerals and coal from the mines.
Therefore, 14 sectors were added under the PLI scheme, from which India will
become a manufacturing hub and the possibilities of investment of about Rs.
2.34 lakh crore through PLI in these 14 sectors have been explored and the
government led by Narendra Modi has
taken them to the ground level. I believe that the bigger the basket of the
country's economy, the more every sector will receive benefits. The Government
of India has come up with several PLI schemes including Mobile and Electronics
Manufacturing, Medical Devices, Automobiles and Auto Components, Drugs and Pharma,
Special Steel, Telecom and Networking Products, Electronics, White Goods, Food
Products, Textile Products, Advanced Chemistry Cells and Drones.
The Union Home and Cooperation Minister said that we have brought in a new
Drone Policy, Health Policy, Commercial Coal Mining Policy, National Policy of
Electronics, Make in India Policy, Skilled India Policy, Digital India to take
connectivity to every village, advanced the aviation sector through UDAN, tried
to make a manufacturing hub through Atma Nirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local,
also protected the environmental ecosystem through Green India Mission. Today
the world is watching in amazement how GST was easily implemented in such a
large and diversified country. Today India is the fastest growing economy in
the world with a rate of 8.2 percent in 2022. There has been the highest ever
GST collection which has crossed Rs. 1.62 lakh crore and smooth business
atmosphere has been established for good businesspersons. Since Independence,
we have not exported as much as we did in 2022, out of which we have exported
US $ 421 billion, out of which US $254 billion is export of services. It is a
symbol of the enterprise of the aspiring youth of India. The highest FDI has
come to India in 2022 at US $81 billion. He said that our growth rate is 8.2
percent, while it is 3.7 percent for the US, 2.1 percent for Germany, 4.4
percent for China and 0.8 percent for Brazil. In the Ease of Doing Business in
2014, we were at number 142 in the table, today we are at number 63. In 2014,
when Narendra Modi began the Startup India scheme, there were no Startups
in the country, but today there are more than 100 unicorn Startups in India. It
is a testament to the potential of the youth of India. We were ranked 71st in
the Global Competitive Index, now we are at 43rd position.