A national seminar “Mining Industry : Opportunities and Challenges” with the theme “managing for better productivity and safety” was held at ICFAI University Daladali Campus today. A number of industry professionals from companies like CCl, MCl, IICM, DGMS, MECON, SAIl, NTPC, IDl Explosives, students, academicians and researchers participated in the seminar and presented papers on various aspects of mining industry.
Welcoming the participants to the seminar, Prof ORS Rao, Vice-Chancellor of the University said, “Currently Mining Industry contributes significantly to manufacturing out put and provides employment to about 20 lakh people directly or indirectly. Recent policy change by Government of India to allow private players to commercially mine coal and sell it in the market without restrictions on price or end use will pave the way for investments by Multi National Companies and create more employment opportunities”. “It is only through better deployment of technology and modern management tools that the Indian Mining Industry can become more competitive and sustainable,” added Prof Rao.
Addressing the seminar as Chief Guest, Aboobacker Siddique, Mines Commissioner-cum-Special Secretary, Dept of Mines and Geology, Govt of Jharkhand complimented the University for being the first University to conduct seminar on Mining. He highlighted the policies of the Jharkhand Govt to make the auctions for mining blocks more transparent and expected that contribution of Mining industry to GDP to scale up to thrice the current levels in the next 10 years.
RS Mahapatra, Director (Personnel),Central Coalfields ltd (CCl), highlighted the way technology is being used at CCl to improve productivity and safety and also the large scale recruitments being done to increase the mining capacity. Mr Arun Kumar Sharma, Director , Geological Survey of India highlighted the contribution of GSI in exploration of a variety of minerals in Jharkhand.
Prof UK Sharma, HOD, Mining,ICFAI University, explained the career opportunities for the graduating students in mining and allied industries like mining machinery, consultancy, etc.