Rajasthan becoming the leading state in the country in the mineral sector

Rajasthan, which is the richest state in the country in terms of availability and variety of minerals, produces 30 different minerals, leading as the sole producer of lead, zinc ores, calcite, selenite, and wollastonite.

Almost the entire production of calcite and natural gypsum in the country comes from Rajasthan. The state earned Rs 4234 crore from various mining licenses till January 2022 and hopes to collect a record total of Rs 6000 crore by way of revenue from mines and quarries.

The state is a major producer of asbestos, copper conc., ochre, phosphorite/rock phosphate, silver, steatite, ball clay, fluorite and felspar. It is also an important producer of marble of various shades. Makrana area is a world-famous centre for marble mining.

More than 85% of the country's potash, wollastonite, lead and zinc and silver resources are located in Rajasthan. The state is said to possess a substantial share of the total resources of potash (94%), lead & zinc ore (89%), wollastonite (88%), silver (81%), gypsum (82%), fuller's earth (74%), diatomite (72%), marble (64%), asbestos (62%), copper ore (50%) and rock phosphate (30%).

The Ashok Gehlot government in its state budget has taken some important decisions that would give the state mining sector a much-needed booster dose. One major decision taken by the Gehlot government is to extend the mining and quarry licenses that were to end on March 31, 2025, to March 31, 2040.

The second important decision taken was the abolition of the limitation of the mining area which was restricted to just four acres. Now a mining licensee would be able to mine in bigger areas.

The pre-condition of procuring environmental clearances for mining that was earlier required before obtaining the mining license has been abolished. Now, a bidder for a mining license could go for the bid process and then obtain environmental clearances.

All these measures would ensure that the state earns Rs 200 crore extra per annum.

There are 6000 mining licenses and 12,000 quarry licensees in the state who contribute heavily to the state government by way of royalties. The decision to extend the licenses by another 15 years would help the miners in a big way and they would now invest heavily in the mining sector, though they have to pay a premium for availing this facility. This would ensure the state earns Rs 125 crore additionally from the licensees.

The abolition of four hectares limit for mining itself would benefit the state annually by Rs 70 crore. There are several thousand mining blocks that are not producing any minerals as the current owners are unable to mine it. Such mining blocks could now be transferred to other willing parties who are keen to go for mining in such blocks.

The current owners would now be able to transfer the lease rights to other entrepreneurs by giving the state a premium amount of Rs 5 lakh. Earlier, this premium amount was Rs 10 lakh.

With the reduction in the premium amount, thousands of unyielding mines would start oozing minerals which would also provide employment in the mining areas.

The state government set up a Mining exploration Trust and this Trust determines the areas that would be given for exploration. The Trust earmarked three limestone deposits, one iron ore deposit, and a gemstone deposit that earned the state Rs 33 crore.

The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is being built from the beautiful pink sandstones found in the Paharpur area of the Bharatpur district. For this purpose, the state government obtained special permissions and approvals for mining of pink sandstones in several blocks in the Paharpur area which has a deposit of 800 million tones of such pink stones. This would ensure timely construction of the temple.

Rajasthan has huge Potash and Halite resources spread across 50,000 sq. km in the Nagaur – Ganganagar basin in the northwest. GSI and MECL have established 2476.58 million tonnes and 21199.38 million tonnes of Potash & Halite respectively.

Bedded Salt formations are strategically useful for underground oil storage, repositories for hydrogen, ammonia and helium gas, storage of compressed gas and nuclear waste. Potash and Sodium Chloride from the Bedded Salt are extensively used in the fertiliser and chemical industry respectively.

MECL has been assigned as the program manager for taking up the feasibility study in the state with the help of an international consultant. Paving the way for the 1st Solution Mining project in the country, this project will generate employment as well as support the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan by way of generating import substitution by boosting the domestic mineral production of Potash and associated minerals.

The mineral exploration of Potash would mean that in the next five years, India would be self-sufficient in Potash that would be mined in Rajasthan. The state would benefit from such mineral exploration and it would get huge revenue from the Potash exploration.

Almost the entire state has in its underbelly various minerals from asbestos to copper to lignite and various 33 minerals. The mining industry provides huge rural employment and with the discoveries of more such blocks, the state would thrive with higher revenues.

The state is producing oil and gas that earns the state several thousand crores by way of revenue.

In the current financial year, the state government in the first six months alone collected a higher revenue of Rs 474 crore compared to the previous financial year where the revenue decreased because of Covid. In the first six months of the current financial year, the state earned Rs 2410 crore.

The state has also put a check on illegal mining and it earned Rs 21 crore from the miners who were indulged in the illegal mining by way of penalty. The mining department identified over 4700 cases where illegal mining was being done and the state has booked such miners by lodging criminal cases against them.