Mining sector has the potential to contribute up to Rs 11.25 lakh crore to the GDP and create up to 1.5 crore jobs by 2025, Mines Minister Dinsha Patel said in the Parliament today.
"The government has prepared a strategic plan document 'Unlocking the Potential of the Indian Mineral Sector'... The Strategy Paper has identified that the mining sector has the potential to contribute to around Rs 945 to Rs 1,125 thousand crore to the GDP...," Patel said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The sector has the potential to "create 13-15 million jobs through direct and indirect contribution by 2015", he added.
The paper, which has been prepared taking into account the vision emanating from the National Mineral Policy, 2008, has identified six key priority areas to achieve the potential including enhancing resource and reserve base, reducing permit delays and putting in place core enablers like infrastructure.
"In this regard, action as per the 12th Five Year Plan has been initiated by the government," Patel said. He said the extraction and management of minerals had to be integrated into the overall strategy of the country's economic development.
To a separate question, Patel said, as per information available by Indian Bureau of Mines, 1.16 lakh workers were employed in the mining sector, excluding fuel, atomic and minor minerals, as on June, 2013.
Provisionally, there were 1.36 lakh workers engaged in the mining sector in 2012-13.
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