Panel Recommends Competitive Bidding In Diamond Mining

An expert group set up by the Madhya Pradesh government has endorsed the entry of multinationals on a competitive basis into diamond exploration and mining. If the report is implemented, MP will become the first Indian state to open up diamond mining to the private sector.

The 12-member expert group includes Gopi Arora, India's representative at the International Monetary Fund, former mining secretary P K Lahiri and several senior Madhya Pradesh government officials. It was set up in the wake of the controversy that arose last year when the state government bypassed the public sector National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) while granting prospecting licences to three foreign MNCs