Minerals, Mining and Metals Conclave - February 2025

Minerals, Mining and Metals Conclave held on 10 February 2025 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Minerals, Mining and Metals Conclave
"Indian Minerals, Mining, and Metals sectors: Facilitating the Journey towards the World's Third-Largest Economy".

The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCC&I) organised "Minerals, Mining and Metals Conclave: Facilitating the Journey towards the World's Third-Largest Economy" on 10th February 2025 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

This high profile Conclave was organized by the 'Metals' and 'Minerals & Mining' National Committees of the BCC&I. The Metals National Committee is Chaired by Mr. Nagendra Nath Sinha, Former Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India. The committee is also led by Mr. D. K. Sen, Former L&T Board Member & Advisor to CMD for Development Projects, L&T Ltd. and Mr. Subodh Pandey, VP, Technology and New Materials Business, Tata Steel Ltd. The Minerals and Mining National Committee is mentored by Mr. Rana Som, Former CMD, NMDC and Mr. Tuhin Mukherjee, Advisor - Mineral Resource & Mining, Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd. The Committee is chaired by Mr. A K Jha, Former Chairman, Coal India Ltd. and Co-Chaired by Mr. Subhra Mukherjee, Group CHRO and Group Admin Head, Captain Steel Ltd.

Mr. Arnab Basu, President, BCC&I and Advisory Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd. delivered the Welcome Address and Mr. Rana Som, Mentor, Minerals & Mining National Committee, BCC&I and Former CMD, NMDC delivered the Opening Address. Shri Sandeep Poundrik, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India was the Chief Guest.

Shri Sandeep Poundrik in his address mentioned that India does not anticipate a significant impact from US announcement of a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports. Shri Poundrik said that the domestic market remains strong and that India's steel exports to US are minimal. He stated that India produced 145 million tonnes of steel last year, of which 95,000 tonnes was exported to the US. So, it does not affects much if out of 145 million tonnes, India is not able to export 95,000 tonnes. Shri Poundrik said that India's domestic demand is on the rise and noted that the steel industry may find it difficult to even meet the local needs in the coming years. He said that India is one of the major economies in the world experiencing such a fast pace of growth. In contrast, economies like the USA, Europe, and China are either stagnating or witnessing a decline in consumption. This is largely because these countries have already achieved a high level of development and their focus is now on replacing infrastructure rather than building new ones.

On the other hand, as a developing nation, the Indian Government is actively pushing for infrastructure growth. The real estate sector has been booming over the past two to three years and with a growing middle class. As a result, consumption is steadily growing, with this year's growth surpassing 10%. In FY 2024-25, our consumption growth is projected to be more than 11%. Taking a conservative approach of 8% annual growth till 2030, we will need a steel production capacity of 300 million tons to meet the demand. By that time, India will likely have this capacity. However, meeting this huge demand of over 300 MT will require more raw materials than we currently supply. Achieving this target is not easy. While iron ore availability is there, ramping up production to meet this demand presents a significant challenge that our industry will need to address. Similarly, the issue of coking coal is pressing. We currently import most of our coking coal. Unfortunately, domestic coking coal production is not increasing fast enough. Other critical materials like manganese, limestone and dolomite are also imported, and it is expected that imports will rise further. These are challenges in the mining sector that must be addressed.

Shri Poundrik further mentioned that India still operates at a smaller level of automation in mining. Increasing automation is essential to improving productivity and safety in the mining sector. Additionally, digital technologies, such as AI and machine learning, will help optimize exploration and increase production. Regarding scrap, Shri Poundrik said that we need to focus on generating our own scrap, as we currently import over 50% of the scrap consumed in the steel industry. The rising trend of countries restricting scrap exports to promote green steel will put pressure on India to become self-sufficient in scrap generation. To address this, we must develop better policies to encourage the recycling and collection of scrap.

Shri Poundrik said that as a country, we are doing well in the steel sector, and achieving a capacity of 300 MT by 2030 is not a problem. However, we face several challenges, example, ensuring raw material availability, expanding specialty steel production (which is still heavily imported), addressing environmental concerns and leveraging new technologies like AI and Machine Learning. If we fail to adopt these advancements, we risk falling behind. But with the vision and efficiency of our industry, he said that he is confident that India will overcome these challenges.

Shri Nagendra Sinha, Chairperson, Metals National Committee, BCC&I and Former Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India thanked Shri Sandeep Poundrik, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Steel, Government of India for his Keynote Address and delivered the Concluding Remarks.

The Opening session was followed by an Experts Roundtable on "Indian Minerals and Mining sectors: What Lies Beneath, What Lies Ahead". The speakers were Mr. B Prabhakaran, Managing Director, Thriveni Earthmovers Pvt. Ltd, Mr. Sunil Pandey, VP, Corporate Affairs, JSW Steel Ltd., Mr. Sitansu Nandi, Head-Sales (Surface Mining), Gainwell Commosales Private Limited and Mr. Vinod Kumar, Partner & Leader - Manufacturing Sector, PwC in India. The session was moderated by Mr. Rana Som, Mentor, Minerals & Mining National Committee, BCC&I and Former CMD, NMDC. The Session focused on ensuring the availability of raw materials, De-Carbonization and sustainability factors in Mining, strategies for more and faster exploration, technology Integration, import dependency and role of private investment and FDI in mining.

The Valedictory Session was addressed by Mr. Sanjay Kumar Singh, Executive Director- Strategy and External Relations, JSPL and Shri A K Jha, Chairman National Committee on Minerals and Mining, BCC&I and Former Chairman, Coal India and Former Chairman, Jindal Power. The session was moderated by Mr. Arnab Chakraborty, Director, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The theme of the Valedictory Session was "Power Play: Indian Coal Mining in the era of Green Energy". The deliberations focused on the evolving landscape of coal mining in the context of sustainable and green energy transitions, eco-friendly mining technologies, adoption of mine reclamation and afforestation projects, coal gasification, clean coal technologies (CCUS - Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage) and its impact on Coal Industry.

The Conclave was attended by around 150 delegates from the mining and metals sector comprising of both private and public sector companies, key industry leaders, policymakers and experts. The Conclave also received widespread media coverage.