(a) whether the Government is contemplating to take suitable steps for conservation of minerals including Iron ore mineral trade to allow value addition in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government take steps to develop suitable technologies to use country mineral areas for its own development; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF THE STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINES (SHRI DINSHA PATEL)
(a) to (d): The Government has enunciated National Mineral Policy 2008, which provides that conservation of minerals, including iron ore, shall be construed not in the restrictive sense of abstinence from consumption of preservation for
use in the distant future, but as a positive concept leading to augmentation of reserve base through improvement in mining methods, beneficiation and utilization of low grade ores. The policy also provides that mineral sectoral value addition through latest techniques of beneficiation, calibration, blending, sizing, concentration, pelletisation, purification and general customization of product will be encouraged. The policy also lays down that mining as a backward linkage and value addition within the same state as a forward linkage will be encouraged. In case of Iron ore, the Indian Bureau of Mines has published IRON & STEEL VISION-2020 which elucidates the technologies available for efficient utilization of iron ore in the country.