Kishan Reddy Underlines Need to Reduce Time Taken to Operationalise Mines
Ahmedabad: Union Minister for Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy on Friday emphasized the need to reduce the time required for commissioning mines to be globally competitive and also urged states to focus on extracting critical minerals from e-waste to meet domestic demand. Noting that the mining ecosystem was changing rapidly at the global level, he said urban mining holds a huge potential.
Reddy was speaking at the inaugural session of ‘Rashtriya Khanij Chintan Shivir – 2026’ at Mahatma Mandir Convention Center in Gandhinagar. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was also there.
He said the mining industry is currently in a dynamic phase globally due to rapidly changing mining geopolitics, focus on critical minerals, emergence of new technology, sustainable objectives and competitive mining markets.
“The entire mining ecosystem is changing rapidly across the world. Today, this sector has become not only a vehicle for development and industrial growth but also an important foundation for India’s geopolitical power, strategic security and global influence,” Reddy said. he said.
According to him, India needs to take a 360-degree approach to the mining sector and focus on the entire value chain, including refining, recycling and reprocessing.
Reddy urged all state governments and relevant departments related to mining and geology to work together to make the mining value chain more efficient.
“We need to speed up exploration by adopting next-generation technologies. The time taken to obtain permission should be minimized. The mining operation should start as soon as possible. In Assam, a mine became operational in just nine months. We need to work with that kind of speed and efficiency.”
The Union minister said it takes five to seven years to make a particular mine operational after auctions.
“Therefore, we need to plan and proceed simultaneously, ensuring that exploration, clearance, land acquisition, R&D policies and operations are completed in the shortest possible time,” Reddy said.
In order to increase the contribution of the mining sector to India’s GDP, the minister urged all stakeholders to focus on development of technology, acquisition of skilled manpower and research and development activities.
Reddy said that amid global geopolitics, supply chain challenges and rising demand for critical minerals, urban mining and waste-to-wealth approach have become a reality in the mining sector.
“There are new opportunities to extract minerals from tailings dumps and fly ashes. All state governments need to work towards extracting critical minerals through urban mining approaches. Urban mining has huge potential in the coming years,” he said.
He expressed confidence that India can meet a large portion of its demand for critical minerals from recycling old mobile phones, laptops and electronic items.
“A recycling incentive plan has been implemented this year to encourage the urban mining and recycling industry,” he said.
All state governments, along with the central government and technology partners, must work together to take full advantage of this scheme, the minister said.
“In addition to industrial waste management, emphasis should also be placed on urban mining. We can move urban mining to a large scale thanks to strong management, advanced recycling technologies, skilled manpower, inter-ministerial coordination and an integrated policy framework,” he said.
There are new opportunities to extract minerals from tailings dumps and fly ashes. All state governments need to work towards the extraction of critical minerals through urban mining using state-of-the-art technology.
He informed the audience that digitalization and data-based decision-making will determine the future course of the mining industry in the coming years.
Reddy said India is also continuously adopting global best practices through policy reforms and technological advancements to make India a strong mining power.
“Over the last 11 years, the mining sector has seen unprecedented progress and reforms. The pace of reforms has been matched by visible results on the ground. Compared to 2014, exploration in India has increased by nearly 190 percent and mineral production has seen double-digit growth.”
The Ministry of Mines organized Chintan Shivir (brainstorming camp) in Gandhinagar to hold structured discussions on key regulatory and developmental issues related to the mining sector and further strengthen Centre-state coordination, an official statement said.
