Government Establishes Panel to Drive Legislation for Optimal Mining of Critical Minerals.

National

The government has set up a panel that would recommend legislative measures to facilitate economically viable recovery of critical minerals which are found in small quantities. Critical mineral blocks like lithium are crucial for manufacturing of electric vehicles. The 7-member panel under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog member V K Saraswat, will suggest legislative measures to ensure optimal and scientific mining of deep-seated mineral deposits such as copper, gold, and diamond among others, which are formed in the form of veins and can generally be extracted through underground mining only. The committee will also formulate a strategy to popularise the impact of mining reforms among states. Critical mineral blocks like lithium are crucial for manufacturing of electric vehicles. Last year, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) established 5.9 million tonnes of inferred resources of lithium in the Salal-Haimana area of Jammu & Kashmir.


      The government has cancelled the auction for 13 of the 20 blocks put on sale in the first tranche of critical minerals as the response was lukewarm.

     

     

 

     


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