1. Indian Mining Industry: An Overview
Minerals are one of the most valuable, finite and non-renewable natural resources of any country. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for economic development. India is endowed with huge resources of many metallic and non-metallic minerals and the sector is an important segment of the economy, which contributed around 2.36% in the National GDP at 2004-05 prices for the year 2010-11. Since independence, there has been a pronounced growth in the mineral production both in terms of quantity and value. The country currently produces a many as 87 minerals, which include 4 fuels, 10 metallic, 47 non-metallic, 3 atomic and 23 minor minerals (including building and other materials). This wide availability of the minerals in the form of abundant rich reserves made it very conducive for the growth and development of the mining sector in India.