Govt has completed 235 projects on critical minerals this year, up nearly four-fold in six years: Geological Survey of India DDG

New Delhi [India], November 13 (ANI): The Government of India has completed 235 projects on critical minerals, which are way high against 2020-21 completion of 65 projects in the country, Siladitya Sengupta, Deputy Director General PSS:P&M Geological Survey of India told ANI today.
Talking on the sidelines of Energy Security Conference 2025 in New Delhi, he said on the sidelines of the Energy Security Conference 2025. " Critical minerals and rare earth minerals are very important for green energy transmissions in the country...To become self reliant in the mineral sector, exploration activities increased manifold. In recent years, thrust is on critical and strategic minerals."
He said this while talking on the initiatives after amendment of MMDR Act that refers to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, a law in India that regulates the mining sector and provides for the development and regulation of mines and minerals under the control of the Union government. It was amended in 2015, making e-auction the mandatory method for granting mineral concessions to increase transparency.
To accelerate exploration in the country, geological survey of India using two pronged approach. First by facilitating the exploration ecology and accelerating GSI's own exploration program, he said.
Giving details about the exploration of deep seated and concealed deposits and need of the hour, he said exploration for deep seated an concealed deposits becomes crucial and there are dwindling surficial deposits, easy access, near surface non-bulk, high- grade deposits are largely exploited.
There are plans to replace traditional surface-evidence based by conceptual model based exploration, he added.
He also said that GSI had handed over 35 geological memorandum blocks to the Ministry of Mines under the OAMDR Act 2002(amended in 2023).
India has huge potential in rare earth minerals and need to focus on processing capabilities, he added. (ANI)