(a) whether there are several mines in the private sector;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether many public sector mines are running in loss;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether the Government propose to hand over some more mines to private sector; and
(f) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF MINES (SHRI JAISINGRAO GAIKWAD PATIL )
(a) to (d): As per information maintained by the Indian Bureau of Mines, a subordinate office of the Ministry of Mines, out of the 3012 mines which were reported to have worked during 2000-2001, 853 were in the public sector, and the rest in the private sector. However, mine-wise information on financial performance is not centrally maintained, hence separate information on the specific public sector mines running in loss is not available .
(e) and (f) Disinvestment of Central Public Sector Undertakings including those engaged, inter alia, in mining sector is being done as per the policy of privatizing non-strategic Public Sector Undertakings through gradual disinvestment or strategic sale. Disinvestment is a continuous process and the Government has completed the disinvestment of Bharat Aluminium Company Limited ( BALCO) through strategic sale and has initiated the process of disinvestment in respect of Hindustan Copper Limited and Hindustan Zinc Limited.