“Mining is one of the most important sectors for growth of the state as well as for the country” – Pradeep Tandon

FICCI Chhattisgarh State Council in association with Directorate General of Training, MSD&E organizes a webinar on “Environmental Management & Skill development in Mining Sector”
Raipur, 24th June 2020. Mr. Pradeep Tandon, Chairman, FICCI Chhattisgarh during his address said “Mining is one of the most important sectors for growth of the state as well as for the country. Mining activity often leads to environmental issues like land degradation, deforestation, atmospheric pollution, etc. affecting the ecological balance of the area”.
“It is therefore imperative to achieve the best use of available mineral resources through scientific methods of mining, beneficiation, and economic utilization. Simultaneously, it is essential to keep in view the present and future needs of ecological resources including forests, environment, mining, wildlife, biodiversity, etc. and development of the country and strive to ensure indigenous availability of basic and strategic minerals to avoid disruption of core industrial production due to any region” said Mr. Pradeep Tandon, Chairman, FICCI Chhattisgarh.
Mr. M.C. Kardam, ISDC Regional Director I/C RDSD&E, DGT, MSDE, Government of India said “The country is well endowed with many metallic and non-metallic mineral resources. India is a leading player in respect of many non-fuel minerals including iron ore, bauxite, dolomite, limestone, and mica. The mining sector (non-fuel) currently accounts for approx. 0.5% of GDP. For accelerated economic growth on a sustainable basis, this sector has to grow at a much faster pace to secure a higher percentage in the GDP. Scientific, sustainable, and transparent mining practices require well-trained manpower. Skill development not only enhances productivity and safety at the workplace, but more importantly, it prepares the manpower to adapt to the new state of art technologies. Currently, this sector employs around 0.2 Million workforces which are estimated to grow to 0.3 Million in the next 10 years. On supply side bridging this gap would require up-scaling of investments in building institutional capacity for meeting the additional demand for various category of human resources”.

He further added, “To meet the ever-rising demand of technically skilled human resources, networking with national and international agencies in promoting collaborative approach, evolving a long term human resource planning for the mining sector and establishing linkages between academia and industry are a few important steps in moving forward”.
Mr. Ravindra Saxena, Ex-IFS, Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of MP and known author of narrative on Forest Conservation, Mines & Minerals deliberated “Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-renewable. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for development. Management of mineral resources has, therefore, to be closely integrated with the overall strategy of development; and the exploitation of minerals is to be guided by long-term state and national goals and perspectives. In this context, the need has been felt to frame a strategy for mineral development by considering policies. The policies have been evolved over the years, relating to the development of forest and mineral resources, and a synthesis approach is required for rational, sustainable development of the state and the country”.
Mr. Saxena further said “Extraction and development of minerals are closely interlinked with other natural resources like land, water, air, and forest. The areas in which minerals occur often have other resources presenting a choice of the utilisation of the resources. Some such areas are ecologically fragile, and some are biologically rich. It is necessary to take a comprehensive view to facilitate the choice or order of land use keeping in view the needs of development as well as the needs of protecting the forests, environment, and ecology. Both aspects have to be properly coordinated to facilitate and ensure sustainable development of mineral resources in harmony with the environment”.
FICCI Chhattisgarh State Council in association with Directorate General of Training, MSD&E has organized a webinar on 24 June 2020 on “Environmental Management & Skill development in Mining Sector”. Mr. Pradeep Tandon, Chairman – FICCI Chhattisgarh State Council & President Jindal Steel & Power Ltd.; Mr. MC Kardam, ISDC Regional Director I/C RDSD&E, DGT, MSDE, Government of India and Mr. Ravindra Saxena, Ex IFS, Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Government of MP were the panellists.