A new mining policy, focusing on gold and diamond mining apart from coal, would be placed in the next session of Parliament, Union Minister of State for Mines T S Reddy said here on Saturday.

“At present, more than 99 per cent of gold and diamond worth Rs 1,40,000 crore are imported and the new mining policy will lay stress on the gold and diamond mining,” Mr Reddy said.

He said that a reserve of 15,000 tonnes of gold had been identified in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, while diamond reserve was found in AP, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.

In the next 5 years, a target has been fixed to produce gold and diamond worth Rs 10,000 crore, he said adding the Geological Survey of India had been instructed to concentrate on identifying gold and diamond reserves in the country.

The new mining policy would facilitate global companies to take part in gold and diamond mining, which requires huge investment and advanced technology. Mr Reddy said that 95 per cent recommendations of the Hoda Committee had been accepted in the new mining policy and that it had nothing to do with export of iron ore. The issue of iron ore export would be dealt by Commerce and Finance Ministries, he said.

Self-sufficiency
Mining of coal would be vital for thermal power generation. The demand for coal in the country would go up to 1.24 lakh mw from the present 96,000 mw, he said. Earlier, addressing a mining congress, Mr Reddy said the minerals produced in the 11th plan would facilitate setting up of industries worth 5,00,000 crore and create employment for 5,00,000 people.

The Union Ministry of Mines, he said, had taken up the challenge to ensure that the country become self-sufficient in producing gold and diamond. He said coal was important for the growth of Indian economy and in the 11th Plan Coal India has target of producing 520 million tons of coal from the present level of 368 mt.