Beni Prasad Verma on a five-day visit to Australia, New Zealand to boost ties in coal and mining sector

A high level delegation led by the Union Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma, is on a five day visit to Australia and New Zealand from January 26.

The visit is expected to boost cooperation in the areas of mining and coal supply.

Verma is scheduled to meet Australian Minister of Industry and Resources, Ian Macfarlane. He will also meet Minister of Natural Resources and Mines of Queensland, Andrew Cripps and Deputy Premier, Government of Queensland, Jeff Seeney.

The delegation is set to discuss various areas of cooperation with Government of Australia and the State Government of Queensland. The discussions are being initiated at an appropriate time, when India is planning to increase its steel production to 300 million tonnes by 2025 from the present production of about 80 million tonnes.

Beni Prasad Verma will also meet Minister of Energy and Resources of New Zealand Simon Bridges, The two leaders are expected to forge bilateral relations in areas of mining.

The Indian delegation comprises Chairman, SAIL, NMDC and ICVL, C.S. Verma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel, S. Abbasi, CMD, MOIL Ltd., G.P. Kundergi, Director Technical (NMDC), N.K. Nanda and CEO, ICVL, Ajay Mathur.