Hyderabad: Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday, April 13, said that the Centre aims to reduce dependence on imports and make the country ‘atma nirbhar’ (self-reliant) in the minerals sector.
Speaking at a roadshow organised by the Mines Ministry on the 7th Tranche Auction of critical mineral blocks and Tranche-2 Exploration Licence, he said the union government’s top priorities are to make the country benefit from the mineral wealth and increase employment generation.
“I would like to say on behalf of the Centre. The government does not work for revenue in the mineral sector. It takes major steps to make the country atma nirbhar in the mineral sector,” he said.
Observing that there are a lot of opportunities for extraction of critical minerals in urban mining and coal gasification in the future, he urged the private sector to work together with PSUs, state governments and others.
Union Mines Secretary Piyush Goyal said during FY 2025-26, a record 212 mineral blocks were auctioned compared to 364 blocks auctioned in the previous four years combined, taking the total to 684 blocks since the introduction of the auction regime in 2015.
In the critical mineral segment, 22 blocks were auctioned during the year. Thus, overall 71 critical mineral blocks have been auctioned so far, including 46 by the Centre and 25 by the state governments.
The 7th Tranche of critical and strategic mineral block auctions was launched on March 23, which comprises 19 blocks, 17 composite licence and two mining lease, he said.
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