Policy reform is necessary in mining: Kameswara Rao

Kameswara Rao, leader energy, utilities and mining, PwC India, replies to queries on what the Budget has in store for the power and metals sector

While the current government talks big on power, there is little action. There is talk on supply failure but no talk on how to increase mining capability of Coal India (CIL). Is it that the government is trying to keep CIL as a failure child than rather than find ways to improve its production efficiency by introducing latest technology as is being practiced in Australia? If at all CIL improves production, we will need to augment railway lines and rakes, and again there is no initiative on this from the government.
- Swapan GD

Kameswara Rao, leader energy, utilities and mining, PwC India: The government, from what we can read, appears keen to equip Coal India to meet production challenges and actions being taken on financing, technology, and logistics. CIL is among the world’s top 40 mining companies and has potential to be developed as a national champion.

Interestingly, productivity of mining investment has declined over the years as global mining companies built capacity in anticipation of continued commodity boom. India avoided this as our mining is largely end-use linked. But downstream sectors suffer from supply shortages due to regulatory challenges and restrictions. To overcome these, policy reform is necessary, covering licensing process, auction, and local area development. The government needs to deliver on these now.