The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry shares a deep connect with German stakeholders. With such background and reference, The Bengal Chamber hosted a Delegation from Germany, consisting of the mining machinery manufacturers, on 5th November 2019 at the Chamber premises for B2B Meetings with the Indian Counterparts.

The delegation consisted of 12 delegates joining from 8 German companies in opencast as well as underground technology. They included exploration, extraction, beneficiation, mineral processing and safety equipments.

The German companies were:
▪  Allmineral Asia Pvt. Ltd.
▪  CFT GmbH Compact Filter Technic.
▪  Eickhoff Bergbautechnik GmbH.
▪  JD Theile GmbH & Co.KG.
▪  Putzmeister Concrete Machines Pvt. Ltd.
▪  SMT Scharf GmbH.
▪  EnergieAgentur-NRW
▪  VDMA Mining.
▪  VDMA India

The delegation of German mining machinery manufacturers presented to the Mining Industry in West Bengal, about latest technologies in safety and efficiency in Mining.

Mr. Abraham George Stephanos, Senior Vice President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed the delegation. Mr V K Arora, Chief Mentor, Karam Chand Thapar & Bros. (Coal Sales Ltd.); Ms. Angana Guha Roy Chowdhury, Director, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other Senior Members and Stakeholders of the Chamber were also present in the programme.

Mr. Abraham George Stephanos stated that Engineering and Mining Sector is very important to the Eastern part of India. The Bengal Chamber's Centre of Excellence, along with Indo German Chamber of Commerce, is created to provide expertise particularly to MSME and SME Sector of the State. Mr. Stephanos also mentioned that The Bengal Chamber took a delegation to Germany this year where the focus was B2B and B2G. The delegation also participated in the Annual General Meet of Indo German Chamber Of Commerce in Dusseldorf.

Mr. Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India Limited, who was coordinating the delegation, stated that Coal production has to increase. Underground Mining has lots of potential that is yet to be explored. Better quality of Coal is available underground. Mr. Nath also mentioned that there is excessive dependency on open cast mines. With open cast mines, there is a problem of procuring land, however for underground the problem does not arise. The policy makers need to think for underground mining possibility.

Mr. Karl Heinz Rieser, Eickhoff Bergbautechnik GmbH mentioned that they are very keen to extend their expertise in Mining Sector in Bengal and other parts of the Country as well.

Mr. Peter Hartlieb, Energie Agentur-NRW stated that the use of coal is abridged in Germany where as the Power sector has started baking upon energy mixes and the investments are being made on exploration of alternative energies in India.

Mr. Damir Martic, SMT Scharf GmbH said they are very willing to provide technical support towards further improvement in the coal and mining sector in India. The session was followed by vibrant interactions with the Indian business fraternity. The programme was also very well covered by media.