26 states participate in workshop on State Mining Index

The officials from 26 states participated in a workshop on State Mining Index which was organized by Ministry of Mines in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology-Indian School of Mines (IIT-ISM) in Delhi on Wednesday.

"The Index would serve as a tool for stakeholders of the mining sector to understand various aspects related to the Ease of Doing Mining Business within a state" said a release by the Ministry of Mines.

The workshop was chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Mines, V. L. Kantha Rao. He emphasized the importance of States' efforts in the development of mining sector getting properly reflected in the policy narrative.

He also highlighted the importance of having a State Mining Index, which will promote cooperative federalism as well as competition among States. Emphasizing the active participation of States being important in making the exercise successful, he requested the States to help in data collection efforts by properly submitting the statistical returns in time.

The workshop brought together policymakers, administrators and practitioners from the Central and State governments. The officials also discussed and finalised the indicators and sub-indicators of performance which form part of the Index framework and methodology.

Post consultations and feedback from the States, the framework of the State Mining Index will be finalized and released in July 2024 for actual ranking to take place in April 2025.