Despite India being one of the countries of Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in percentage. Discuss. UPSC IAS Mains 2021 General Studies (Paper – 1)
Despite being a part of Gondwana land, rich in providing minerals such as coal, iron, mica, aluminium, etc., the contribution of the mining sector to India’s GDP has been on a steady decline. Contribution by the mining sector to India’s GDP is only 1.75%. Whereas other countries like South Africa and Australia contribute 7.5% and 6.99%.
Reasons:
- Mining is harmful from an environmental point of view. There has hardly been a mining project that did not face opposition on this front.
- Several tribal communities and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) fall into the mining zones. Their residence is also threatened by an increase in mining. Their rehabilitation and compensation is another major issue.
- The auction of a mine is a process where the power rests in the hands of State governments. There might exist ambiguity in the case where there are two different political parties in power at the Center and the State.
- There are also issues like technological advancements and availability of cheap funds. Lack of these is the major determinant in poor growth of the mining industry.
- India has majorly been an exporter of raw materials and an importer of finished products made out of those raw materials. As the raw materials are sold at dirt cheap rates, it reflects poorly in the GDP calculations.
The mining sector of India, hold immense potential to reduce import dependence and hurl industrial development. In this light faster administrative clearances need to be ensured and security challenges like Naxalism etc., in the mining belt need to be checked.
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