New Delhi: The Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Coal and Mines convened at the Parliament House Annexe on September 19 to assess the performance of the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET).

During the session, Union Minister of Coal, Mines, and Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi, highlighted the government's commitment to strengthening mineral exploration, with the goal of achieving self-reliance in mineral production, as stated in the Ministry of Coal's press release.

Joshi emphasized the significance of India's recently released list of 30 Critical Minerals, underscoring ongoing efforts to expedite the auction process of these critical minerals within the country.

The meeting's agenda centered on the "Performance of NMET concerning its role and responsibility in promoting exploration in the country." The Ministry of Mines, led by V.L. Kantha Rao, Secretary, provided an overview of NMET's performance to the committee members.

Notably, 25 percent of the project cost has been designated as an incentive for deep-seated and Critical Mineral exploration.

To encourage mineral exploration, NMET has approved 309 projects valued at Rs 2,100.14 crores for regional and detailed exploration across the country. These projects are undertaken by various Notified Exploration Agencies and Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NEAS & NPEAs). Of these 309 approved projects, 151 have been successfully completed, while the rest are in progress. Eleven blocks have been auctioned by respective State Governments, generating approximately Rs 1.69 lakh crore in revenue for the country throughout the mine's life.

In addition to mineral exploration initiatives, NMET is funding projects for the generation of baseline geoscience data, including Multi-sensor Aero-Geophysical surveys under the National Aero-Geophysical Mapping Program (NAGMP) and the National Geophysical Mapping Programme (NGPM) conducted by the Geological Survey of India (GSI). This data aims to identify potential areas, including concealed and deep-seated target areas for further mineral exploration. NMET is also supporting the development of the National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) Portal of GSI, scheduled for launch soon.

Furthermore, 16 private exploration agencies have been notified, and NMET has sanctioned 11 projects valued at Rs 7.60 crores to five Notified Private Exploration Agencies, with a focus on critical and strategic minerals.

NMET has formulated schemes to provide financial assistance for the procurement of machinery, equipment, instruments, software upgrades, and other advanced technology to Central Government organizations and the State Directorate General of Mines Safety/Department of Mines and Geology (DGMS/DMGs) to strengthen technical infrastructure. An amount of Rs 182.52 crore has been sanctioned to 19 States, GSI, and International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), with Rs 23.78 crore already released.

NMET is also providing incentives to State DGMS/DMGs to expedite the auction process, having released Rs 37.34 crore to 20 States for making auctionable blocks available and successfully auctioned.

Members of the Consultative Committee commended the Ministry's efforts and provided suggestions to enhance mineral exploration. They also praised the Ministry of Mines' initiatives to make India self-reliant in the mineral sector, especially concerning critical and strategic minerals.

The committee included Ajay Kumar Mandal, Chunni Lal Sahu, Krupal Balaji Tumane, Mitesh Rameshbhai Patel, Mohan Mandavi, Pakauri Lal, Sunil Soren, Suresh Kumar Pujari, Khiru Mahto, Seema Diwedi, and Prashanta Nanda as attending Members of Parliament.