Chhattisgarh had 7.32% share in the overall mineral production in the country during 2016-17, according to the annual report of the Union Ministry of Mines.
During 2016-17, mineral production was reported from 34 States/Union Territories (actual reporting of MCDR & Fuel minerals from 22 states and estimation of minor minerals for all 32 States/Union Territories) of which the bulk of value of mineral production of about 92.56% was confined to 13 States (including off shore areas).
Offshore areas are in leading position, in terms of estimated value of mineral production in the country and had the share of 19.93% in the national output.
Next in order was Rajasthan with a share of 12.29% followed by Odisha (11.10%), Chhattisgarh (7.32%), Jharkhand (6.96%), Gujarat ( 6.94%), Andhra Pradesh (5.98%), Madhya Pradesh (5.88%),Telangana (4.52%), Assam (3.93%),Karnataka (2.65%), Uttar Pradesh(2.65%), West Bengal (2.37%), Tamil Nadu (2.45%) and Maharashtra (2.35%) in the total value of mineral production. Remaining States and Union Territories having individual share of less than 3.0% all together accounted for remaining of total value during the year under review.
Out of 12 mineral rich states of the country, 11 States [i.e.Goa, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh,
Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and
Maharashtra] have framed DMF rules and DMF has been set up in 263 districts.
Chhattisgarh is among seven states where mineral blocks have been auctioned resulting in total additional revenue of Rs 47,551 crores to the Central government as on November 2016.
The other states where the mineral blocks were auctioned were Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha and Jharkhand, the Central Government has informed.
Notably, Chhattisgarh has collected Rs 712.04 crores under 'District Mineral Foundations' (DMFs) from all the 27 districts of the State where the Foundation had been established, the Central government has informed.
Notably, the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act, 1957) was amended through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2015. One of the amendment provisions relates to introduction of section 9B which provides for the establishment of District Mineral Foundation (DMF) in any district affected by mining related operations.
The objective of the DMF is to work for the interest and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining related operations.
The Union Ministry of Mines has also commenced the process for pilot launch of Mining Surveillance System (MSS) for keeping vigil on illegal mining of even minor minerals in Chhattisgarh besides two other states, officials informed.
The process is underway to launch a system for minor minerals in coalition with the State Governments. The states of Haryana, Telangana and Chhattisgarh have been selected for a pilot launch, officials informed.
Notably, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal had launched the Mining Surveillance System (MSS) in New Delhi recently.
Notably, the Union Ministry of Mines, through Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), has developed the MSS, in coordination with Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), to use space technology for curbing illegal mining activity in the country.
Been developed under the Digital India Programme, MSS is one of the first such surveillance systems developed in the world using space technology. The current system of monitoring of illegal mining activity is based on local complaints and unconfirmed information. There is no robust mechanism to monitor the action taken on such complaints.
Notably, the Automatic software leveraging image processing technology generates automatic triggers of unauthorized activities. These triggers will be studied at a Remote Sensing Control Centre of IBM and then transmitted to the district level mining officials for field verification.
A check for illegality in operation is conducted and reported back using a mobile app.
A user-friendly mobile app has been created which can be used by these officials to submit compliance reports of their inspections. The mobile app also aims to establish a participative monitoring system where the citizens also can use this app and report unusual mining activity.
The advantages of remote sensing technology based monitoring system are that it is Transparent (Public will be provided an access to the system); Bias-free and Independent (The system has no human interference); Deterrence Effect (‘Eyes watching from the sky’); Quicker Response and Action (The mining areas will be monitored regularly. Sensitive areas will be monitored more frequently); Effective Follow-up (action taken on triggers will be followed-up at various levels like DMG, State Mining Secretary, State Office and Headquarters Office of IBM and Ministry of Mines, (GoI).