Mining of oceans to unlock huge opportunities for Indian industries.

India is looking to mine oceans, which will unlock tremendous opportunities and new areas of operations for Indian industries, it is said.

Speaking at a conference on the sidelines of the silver jubilee edition of the International Engineering & Technology Fair 2023, the mines secretary said that the government is amending the Offshore Areas Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, which is open for comments from the industry.

"We need to increase domestic exploration and we have enlisted 13 private exploration companies as the opportunities are immense. We also need to look at acquiring foreign assets. We sent a team to Argentina to identify mines for investments and we have two lithium mines and one copper mine there. Within the coming period, we will shortlist projects to invest in, which will be open to the private sector," it is said.

He also urged the industry to get into organized recycling to make India the recycling hub of the world.

Talking about the opportunities and possibilities in the metals and mining industry, he said that the government had proposed amendments to the MMDR Act to encourage junior miners.

Koushik Chatterjee, chairman of Metal & Metallurgy Expo 2023 and executive director and Group CFO Tata Steel Ltd, said the metals and metallurgy sector is the foundation of India's economic growth and underlined the need to develop a sustainable metals and metallurgy Industry, which is aligned with India's Sustainable Development and Net-Zero goals.

Gajendra Panwar, MD, Danieli India Ltd, said that the industry should build modern steel plants capable of delivering premium quality steel to become globally competitive.

Noting that India needs to become carbon neutral, he said that green hydrogen is a great option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "But, until it is available and affordable, we must look for other technologies to use natural gases to bring down carbon emissions," it was added.

Sunil Duggal, chairman of CII National Committee on Mining and Group CEO, Vedanta Ltd, said that the enormous potential of the mining and metallurgy sector needs to be unlocked and added that the industry is fully committed to achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make India Aatmanirbhar in coming years.

Over 400 companies from 19 countries are displaying their latest products and technologies at the IETF. Finland is the focus country at the IETF this year.