Rajasthan principal secretary of mining and petroleum T Ravikanth has emphasised on preparing a roadmap right from pre bidding to e-auction of mining blocks followed by effective and tight monitoring of mining operations.The state government has planned to put more than 100 mineral blocks under auction.
Ravikanth said that there is immense potential in the mining sector as the state is rich in major as well as minor minerals.
“We need to prepare an action plan to ensure time bound completion of auction. For that we need to prepare zone wis wand mineral wise action plan. We also have to prepare step wise auction processes of mining blocks so that the bidding can be completed in a time bound manner,” he told officials while reviewing the activities of mining department.
Ravikanth said that the focus of the department should be on increasing revenue generation and recovery of old dues.
“We need to expedite our working to meet the budgetary announcements. There should be better interdepartmental coordination for fast disposal of issues and problems coming in the way of mining operations. Auction of mining blocks should happen in time so that mining activities can be expedited,” he said.
He said that the mining sector is a big source not employment generator in the state.
“As many as 6-8 lakh people are directly employed in mining sector while more than 25 lakh are indirectly earning from this sector,” he said.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
