Auction of mines to commence this month: Tomar

The auction of mines in various states under the new mining policy will commence this month and 'will be transparent and corruption free," minister for steel and mines Narendra Singh Tomar said today.
"The process has already been started and the government has talked to states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, even as Gujarat has sent notices for the auction, Tomar told reporters here.
With the new mining policy, all auctions would be transparent and corruption free and government wanted to provide the required raw material to the industry without any problem, he said and expressed hope that other states would also start sending notices for auction.

Asked about increased imports and the proposal to hike the anti-dumping duty, particularly from China, Tomar said there was a demand from the industry in this regard.
As the government always redressed the grievances of the industry, the ministry would talk to the ministries concerned like Commerce and Finance and consider what could be done to safeguard the domestic steel industry, he said.
An institute named Steel Research and Technology Mission of India has been set up to focus on research with identical funding of Rs 100 crore from Steel Development Fund and the Industry, he said.
Tomar, here to give away awards on 'National Metallurgy Day', said that though there was a 2.3 per cent decline in steel production worldwide, India was witnessing a four per cent growth this year.

The ministry's aim was to increase production capacity from the present 100 million tonnes to 300 million tonnes by 2025 to reach the second spot from the third place now, Tomar said.