Vidarbha on way to becoming India's mining capital, says WCL chief Hemant Sharad Pande

Vidarbha is on its way to becoming the country's mining capital, according to Hemant Sharad Pande, chairman and managing director of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL). He said there could be no better choice than Vidarbha for a mining capital.

Pande said Vidarbha's real strength is its minerals. The region has large reserves of coal, manganese, iron ore and limestone, among other minerals. Most notably, everything from mineral exploration to mining companies is present within one area, he said. Exploration, production and research facilities are all in one city, a coincidence not seen anywhere else in the country, he added.

He said the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), the country's largest body that frames mineral rules, is headquartered in Nagpur. The body regulates the minor minerals sector and prepares the development road map. MECL, the largest public sector unit that finds out where minerals are and in what quantity in the country, is also headquartered here. MOIL, the largest producer of manganese, is also headquartered in Nagpur. For coal there is WCL, and for research the premier institution CIMFR is a partner.

According to Pande, along with these government companies, private sector firms are now also investing lakhs of crores of rupees in the mining sector. He said such an ecosystem does not exist in any other part of the country. Earlier, Vidarbha could not build an organised identity in the mineral sector, but concerted efforts over the past few years have now begun to move it towards becoming a mining capital.

Citing business figures, Pande said mining is driving a direct turnover of about Rs 50,000 crore in Vidarbha today, with coal, limestone, manganese and iron playing the main roles. The mining sector is providing work to railways, transport, power and many small and large industries. According to him, a turnover of lakhs of crores of rupees is being delivered by just one sector. Several cement factories are investing in Vidarbha on the strength of limestone.

On employment, he said the mining sector provides direct jobs to about 1 to 1.5 lakh people. WCL alone has 35,000 workers and MOIL about 10,000. Cement companies employ thousands more.

On new technology, Pande said Vidarbha is now set to move ahead in that direction too. According to him, Vidarbha is the only region in the country where four coal gasification projects have been approved. One of them, worth Rs 13,700 crore, is to be set up by Coal India Limited and BPCL. Era Energy is bringing a project worth thousands of crores, which has received land and where work has begun. The other two companies are also likely to start soon. Pande said these projects will increase employment and turnover and strengthen a new source of energy.

On rare earth elements, Pande said they are going to become Vidarbha's biggest advantage in the coming days. Rare earth elements are being found in large numbers in the mines here and will play an important role in the development of the electronics and agriculture sectors. He said there is demand for these elements across the world. Initial assessments show that many elements are present here in large quantities.

On Gadchiroli, Pande said the area has become a hot cake after a long time. Iron ore mining is taking place there on a large scale, and Gadchiroli has played an important role in expanding the ecosystem. He said that through the efforts of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, investment of thousands of crores has been made so far, and a further Rs 1 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore is expected.