The Hindu Business Line : Geological programming board in for revamp

New Delhi, Aug 27 Major global players in the mining sector such as Rio Tinto, De Beers, BHP Billiton and many others may soon have the chance to play a more proactive role in deciding what minerals the Geological Survey of India (GSI) should survey for and in which places.

The Government is all set to revamp the Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) 42 years after it was set up in 1966 and induct representatives from big private sector players in the mining sector.

The move is aimed to speed up the mineral specific surveys in view of the rising interest of global investors in the Indian mining sector, official sources said.

CGPB is the apex body that decides the surveys to be undertaken by the GSI on an annual basis by synchronising them with the five-year Plan targets, interim directives received from the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Mines and requests from various State Governments.

As of now, the CGPB has representation from only the Government agencies and public sector undertakings.

MNC representation

However, three out of the seven sub-committees of the board have representation from multinational companies.

As of now, Rio Tinto and De Beers are members of the sub-committees on metallic minerals, industrial minerals and on airborne surveys. BHP Billiton is present in the sub-committees on metallic minerals and airborne surveys.

The other big mining companies present in at least one of these three sub-committees are Anglo American, Met Dist, Indo Gulf, Phelps Dodge, Pokhran Granite, Gem Granites and RG Marbles.

The sub-committees on energy minerals, environmental & natural hazards, marine geology and north-eastern region do not have any participation from private sector players.

Review of panels

Highly placed sources in the Ministry of Mines said that the functioning of the main CGPB had not been reviewed since its inception in 1966 though the functioning of the sub-committees had been reviewed twice. During the 1998 review, their number was brought down from 16 to 12 and in the second review in 2002, it was further reduced to seven along with the inclusion of private sector players.

“Now, it had been felt that more private sector exploration agencies need to be inducted in the main CGPB as well as the other four sub-committees which do not have private sector representation in order to have more effective coordination and monitoring of the annual surveys to be undertaken by the GSI,” official sources said.

“State Governments have been consulted and their views on the matter are expected shortly,” he said.

More Stories on : Mining & Quarrying

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page