Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI The mining sector reforms introduced by the Centre have turned out to be instrumental in augmenting the production of key minerals in the country, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy told the Parliament.
The production of iron ore has doubled from 129 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 258 million tonnes in 2022-23 while the production of limestone has jumped by 37.6 per cent from 295 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 406 million tonnes in 2022-23, the minister told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
“The gross value added (GVA) of the mining sector now accounts for 2 per cent of the country’s GDP and the contribution of the mining & quarrying sector in value terms has increased from Rs 2,90,411 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 3,18,302 crores in 2022-23,” he added.
Kishan Reddy also stated that as a result of the reforms implemented by the Central government, a total of 385 mineral blocks have been auctioned in the country since the introduction of the auction regime in 2015. Out of these, 50 mines are already in production.
