Find Mining expertise in India

Mining is a major emerging economic resource and India is now one of the top 10 global producers of a long list of minerals and metals including coal, iron ore, and chromite. It is the third largest producer of coal in the world, and other mining activities are expected to grow exponentially in the future.

Mining is a major contributor to the Indian economy, with more 1.1 million people employed by it and minerals forming 16% of the country’s exports (2006). Public sector companies, usually with interests among many sectors, dominate around 80 % of marketplace, with SAIL and SCCL being amongst the largest. The private sector is represented by the likes of Tata Steel. Since the 1990s the government has been gradually opening up of the industry to private investment, and in turn attracting international involvement.

Although it is estimated that iron ore reserves equal nearly 28 billion tons, illegal mining activities have resulted in suspension and even bans in major production areas. The Karnataka and Goa governments banned all iron ore mining activities in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The bans were lifted and production recommenced in 2014 with heavy licensing restrictions. Another major issue is a lack of concentration of the mineral deposits, resulting in many small-scale mining sites. Because sites may be situated vast distances from major cities, there is a lack of proper infrastructure and resources to support the industry.

Natural dimension stones are found primarily in the southern region of India, with the Tamil Nadu region being among the richest in stones such as sandstone, limestone and granite. Rajasthan in the north of the country is also well-known as a source of marble. There is a wealth of natural stone in India which is responsible for 27% of the global share of exports as of 2012, making it one of the world’s largest contributors of the resource. With an increase in demand for resources both domestically and globally, the industry expects to improve production rates in the future. However, environmental and social impacts remain an unsolved problem and production in many areas has slowed, and sometimes has even been put on hold, in order to assess and address issues, such as community displacement.