Mining fair next month

In order to showcase the Indian mining and mineral sector in the international crowd, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the central ministry of coal and mines and Coal India Ltd will jointly organise the seventh International Mining & Machinery Exhibition (IMME-2004) in Kolkata.

The fair would help foreign and domestic investors and experts develop business, said CII.

IMME-2004 will host a two-day international seminar on `India Mining Summit', from November 25 to 26, on an area of 11,000 square metres. There will also be an exhibition to showcase the Indian mining and mineral industry.

The exhibition is slated to attract over 350 exhibitors from India and overseas. V RS Natarajan, chairman of the fair committee, said the governments of Australia, Canada, Germany, Poland, Russia and the UK have shown keen interest in setting up country pavilions.

Companies such as Atlas Copso, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd (BEML), L&T, Volvo, Cummins, McNally Bharat, Rexroth Bosch, Sandvik Smith and Tega Industries were expected to take part.

The Indian mineral industry needed to catch up and bridge the technological gaps of the last few decades with demand for coal and other mineral slated to exponentially rise in the next few years, he said.

"Therefore, advanced technologies are particularly needed to reduce the amount of waste, which contains valuable mineral components in copper, nickel, lead, gold and antimony ores," he added.

IMME-2004 according to Natarajan would provide an appropriate platform for the domestic mining community to attract the leading world-class organisations and get to update themselves with technological advancement in mining sector.

With India emerging as a sourcing hub, the mining sector had much to offer in terms production of mining equipment, spares and parts at competitive rates.