(a) the number of public sector undertakings in mineral sector in the country State-wise;
(b) whether any effort is being made by those PSUs in the peripheral development during the last three years;
(c) if so, the details thereof, Stat-wise; and
(d) the amount spent thereon?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINES (DR. DASARI NARAYANA RAO)
(a) to (d): The Ministry of Mines is responsible for survey and exploration of all minerals, other than natural gases, petroleum and atomic minerals, for mining and metallurgy of non-ferrous metals like Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Lead, Gold, Nickel, etc. and for administration of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation), Act 1957 in respect of all mines and minerals other than coal, natural gas and petroleum.
The Ministry of Mines, at present has three public sector undertakings namely, National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO), Bhubaneswar (Orissa), Hindustan Copper Ltd. (HCL), Kolkata (West Bengal), and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. (MECL), Nagpur (Maharashtra).
A number of activities like community education programmes, facilitating availability of drinking water, repair and development of approach roads of surrounding areas, arranging health awareness programmes, school health programmes and medical camps in rural areas, were undertaken by the PSUs for upliftment of the community in and around their townships as part of their social responsibility.
During the last three years HCL could not make any peripheral development works due to financial constraints. MECL carries out exploration for minerals at different locations over a short duration through temporary establishments and as such peripheral development is not feasible. NALCO has spent the following amount for peripheral development.
Year Rs. in Lakh
2002-03 460.18 2003-04 483.96 2004-05 1044.79
Total 1988.93