At a time when mining and mineral players are gearing up to make in-roads into Gujarat in the upcoming investment summit, Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors’ Summit 2011, the State government has started focusing innovation and value addition in the mining sector.
Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of an industry event today, Saurabh Patel, minister of state for Industries, government of Gujarat, informed that the state has laid special emphasis on value addition and innovation in mining sector.
“Our focus is not the investments alone, we want to promote innovation and value addition in the mineral industry,” Patel said adding that mining and minerals sector can contribute to inclusive growth of the state.
Indicating the State government’s intentions to give cement industry a boost, the minister hinted at making conducive environment for cement players so as to make Gujarat a “Cement Capital of India.”
However, Patel refused to divulge further details on the road map to encourage cement sector in the state.
A seminar on ‘Integrated mining cities’ was organized by the State government and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with the support of the Industrial Extension Bureau (iNDEXTb), at Ahmedabad.
The state government is focusing on developing ‘Integrated mining cities’.
“The Government wishes to encourage sustainable mining with due conservation of valuable resources at par with international best mining practice and to make use of the latest environmentally-friendly mining technology,” Patel said.
The state has rich mineral reserves of lignite, bauxite, limestone, manganese, fluorspar, bentonite, clay, silica sand, and dolomite. Of these, Gujarat has granite reserves worth 2500 million tonnes (MT), marble worth 360 MT and limestone reserves worth 12,000 MT.
