Improving mine safety and enhancing productivity are key areas that need attention in mining sector in India, according to Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India Services Ltd.

The country should also push for more underground mining, he said. The issues were deliberated at a seminar attended by officials from the State government, West Bengal Power Development Corporation, industry chiefs and a delegation of 10 German companies from the mining machinery manufacturing industry.

VDMA Mining represents mainly medium-sized companies — open cast mining/materials handling, underground mining, mining processing technology and consulting, research and development.

Around 145 companies in VDMA Mining represent more than 90 per cent of the entire trade volume.

“The main focus of the seminar was on ensuring mine safety and enhancing productivity.

The delegation of German companies also spoke on underground mining,” Nath told newspersons after a business-to-business meeting organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Tuesday.

The German delegation was in the city following the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s and Finance Minister Amit Mitra’s visit to Dusseldorf, Germany, and the high-level delegation from NRW to Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS).

India offers huge potential in the mining sector. This needs to be tapped and the process should be made “safer and better,” he added.