The Hindu Business Line : Bengal CM invites pvt investment in coal mining, mineral sector

INAUGURATING the 7th International Mining & Machinery Exhibition (IMME 2004) here on Wednesday, the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, has welcomed private investment in the coal mining and mineral sectors in the State.

The Chief Minister particularly urged private investors to help revive the closed Mining & Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) at Durgapur, which was once set up in collaboration with the erstwhile Soviet Union, to manufacture equipment and machinery for underground mines.

Mr Bhattacharjee said he had already approached the Union Minister for Heavy Industries to take the necessary steps to revive MAMC, which still has potential to play a major role in making the country self-reliant in areas of manufacturing equipment and machinery for underground mines.

He said that West Bengal has vast reserves of quality non-coking coal, which remained untapped because coal seams are available at a deeper level. In fact, the management of Eastern Coalfields Ltd had decided to close down at least 26 underground mines on the plea that it would be uneconomical to mine coal.

However, he said that these mines required the right kind technology to exploit reserves from deep underground mines.

In this connection, he urged foreign and domestic companies to take up those mines. He assured all help from the State Government.

Mr B. Muthuraman, Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Eastern Region, said that the eastern region, with its large concentration of metals and minerals, had a huge potential to attract investments. The fact that eastern States, comprising Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa and large tracts of West Bengal were home to significant deposits of iron ore, bauxite and coal, meant that this region had an important role to play in the country's mining and minerals future.

IMME 2004, which was organised by the CII in association with the Union Coal & Mines and Coal India Ltd (CIL) observed that through mineral production in the country has grown in recent years, it is yet to realise its full potential.

The mining industry needs to leverage its strengths such as low cost, abundant minerals, among others that will increase domestic production and also create global demand. If leveraged properly, the natural resources can transform this region into metals and minerals hub, it is felt.

Mr Subodh Bhargava, Chairman of Trade Fairs, CII, said that the future of eastern region was linked to growth and development of the mining sector. Manufacturing sector in the country had seen massive deployment of productivity and process systems in the 90s. This brought about gains to units and organisations. The mining sector too needs to undertake an overhaul of its mining processes to realise gains and increases in productivity. The gains in productivity realised in Indian metals industry should encourage the mineral sector to develop a vision of being globally competitive.

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