Raipur. Raipur. Under the guidance of Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, a one-day state level workshop was organized in the convention hall of New Circuit House in the capital Raipur regarding systematic exploration and exploitation of minerals of strategic and tactical importance available in Chhattisgarh. Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop, Secretary to the Chief Minister and Secretary of Mineral Resources Department P. Dayanand said that Chhattisgarh is a rich state full of mineral wealth, where 28 types of major minerals like coal, limestone, dolomite, iron ore, bauxite, tin ore as well as minerals of strategic and nuclear importance like lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements are available in abundance. He informed that this workshop has been organized with the aim of giving more impetus to the efforts being conducted under the National Program on Exploration Strategy and National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET). Its goal is to ensure active participation of national exploration agencies and to take concrete steps towards the speedy implementation of strategic mineral projects in the state. This workshop was jointly organized by the Mineral Resources Department and Chhattisgarh Geology and Mining Directorate. Its objective was to encourage scientific exploration techniques for proper exploitation of India’s critical minerals potential, technically strengthen the proposal submission system and ensure effective participation of the state in national level strategic exploration policies. In the technical sessions of the workshop, Ravikant Gupta of Geological Survey of India elaborated on the geological features of Chhattisgarh and the possibilities of OGP areas. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar of Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited gave a presentation based on modern geophysical and geochemical techniques for exploration of minerals like lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, tungsten, phosphate, which gave the officials information about the latest methods. Akshay Verma from NMET shared information about the proposal preparation process, financial assistance and grant policies, underlined the opportunities available under NMET and emphasized the need for more active participation of the state.
Experts at the workshop said that Chhattisgarh’s mineral diversity and quality can make it an important link in the global mineral supply chain. He suggested that the state can lead mineral-based industrial development by establishing a balance between mineral production, market demand and future prospects. In the closing session, the mineral surveys conducted so far in the state, their findings and proposed projects were reviewed. The officials stressed the need to further strengthen technical efficiency and inter-departmental coordination. Senior officials of the Directorate of Geology and Mining said that mineral resources are the basic foundation of the economic progress of any state. The workshop made it clear that by adopting transparent, technically competent and timely processes, Chhattisgarh can not only attract private and public investment, but can also play a leading role in the National Strategic Mineral Policy. All the participants stressed the need for joint efforts and long-term strategic approach for mineral-based sustainable industrial development. On this occasion, various central and state level agencies, research institutes, policy advisors and technical experts including Prof. Sahendra Singh of IIT Dhanbad, Prem Prakash of IBM, Director Rajat Bansal, Joint Director Anurag Dewan and Sanjay Kankane participated in the workshop.
