India is looking to mine oceans, which will unlock huge opportunities and new areas of operation for Indian Industries, Vivek Bhardwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, said on Friday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the International Engineering & Technology Fair 2023, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Bharadwaj said, the Government is amending the Offshore Areas Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. Comments from the industry have also been sought on the proposed amendments.

“We need to increase domestic exploration and have listed 13 private exploration companies. We also need to look at acquiring foreign assets. We sent a team to Argentina to identify mines for investment and we have two lithium mines and one copper mine there,” he said.

Plans are also afoot to shortlist projects in which the Mines Ministry plans to invest. These will also be open to the private sector.

Urging industry to get into organised recycling, Bharadwaj said possibilities in the metals and mining industry are immense and the proposed amendments in the MMDR Act will encourage junior miners.

According to Koushik Chatterjee, Chairman, Metal & Metallurgy Expo 2023, and Executive Director and Group CFO, Tata Steel Ltd, the metals and metallurgy sector is the foundation of India’s economic growth. He underlined the need to develop a sustainable metals and metallurgy industry aligned with India’s sustainable development and net-zero goals.

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