 "G Kishan Reddy, Kishan, Reddy")
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh BJP President, who led the highest-ever number of Telugu MPs elected from these states, has been rewarded with two crucial economic ministries of coal and mines. G Kishan Reddy will resume his second ministerial role in the Centre with the third term of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
In the earlier tenure of the NDA, Reddy was the minister of state for home and later the cabinet minister for tourism, culture, and the development of the northeast region.
Reddy takes over the Ministry of Coal when the department is facing the challenge of increasing coal production in the country while battling global pressure to reduce fossil fuel usage. In recent years, with incremental power demand falling on coal, the share of thermal power has increased beyond expectations. With electricity demand touching a new record every year, it is coal which is running the show.
This has had a domino effect on the supply of both domestic coal and imported coal, as well as natural gas. India's national miner, Coal India Ltd (CIL), is looking at this year to be the highest-ever supply of coal. The union Ministry of Coal has ensured coal availability of more than 15 days this summer (it usually would go below 10 days). The new coal minister will need to maintain this streak with much-needed support from the railways, states, power ministry, and generating stations.
His second ministry, Mines, is under the spotlight as the country goes hunting for critical and rare minerals to fuel its need for electric mobility and energy storage. During the second tenure of the NDA, there was a significant push towards securing critical minerals. The Centre has already initiated the auction of 38 critical mineral blocks. The challenge for the new Mines Minister will be to navigate the complexities and successfully auction these blocks, especially since bids were not received for 13 of them.
Additionally, India is exploring critical minerals exploration, mining, and technology trade with several countries. Securing trade deals with these nations is crucial, especially given that the sector is dominated by India's neighbour, China. With the sector witnessing huge demand, it will be crucial for Reddy to navigate Centre-state relations in mineral mining and build international relations for the critical minerals supply chain.
