The 65th meeting of the Central Geological Programming Board (CGPB) was held today at the A. P. Shinde Symposium Hall, ICAR, Pusa, New Delhi. The meeting was inaugurated by Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, with the traditional lighting of the lamp, in the gracious presence of Shri Asit Saha, Director General, Geological Survey of India (GSI), Shri Sanjay Lohiya, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines, and Dr. Joyesh Bagchi, Additional Director General, GSI.

The proceedings were chaired by Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Chairman, CGPB. This pivotal event brought together key stakeholders from the Central Ministries, State Governments, Industry, Academia and mining sectors to deliberate on geoscientific advancements and mineral exploration strategies, with a special focus on critical minerals, resource augmentation, energy transition, geohazard management and environmental sustainability.

In his welcome address, Shri Asit Saha, Director General, Geological Survey of India, underscored GSI’s firm commitment to aligning geoscientific programmes with national priorities and the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. He highlighted that the upcoming Annual Programme places strong emphasis on leveraging advanced geoscientific technologies, digital platforms and AI-enabled tools to accelerate mineral discovery, particularly of concealed and deep-seated deposits. The Director General further highlighted that targeted exploration of critical and strategic minerals will significantly strengthen the country’s mineral security and support emerging sectors of the economy.

Shri Sanjay Lohiya, Additional Secretary, Mines, in his address, underscored the importance of fast-tracking the exploration in the country by all the exploration agencies. He directed GSI, NPEAs and other exploration agencies to complete the projects within the stipulated time. He informed that the agencies taking up exploration in any area may consult the National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR) portal of Ministry of Mines to avoid duplication of work. He also urged State DGMs and all other stakeholders to upload their data in NGDR.  He informed that Ministry of Mines have formulated a Policy for recovery of Critical and Strategic minerals from ongoing exploration projects, existing mines and dumps, overburdens and tailings. He requested all the stakeholders including GSI, IBM, AMD, DAE, Ministry of Coal and State DGMs to adopt and implement the Policy in their respective domains.

During the 65^th CGPB meeting, Geological Survey of India placed its Annual Programme for upcoming Field Season 2026–27, comprising 1,068 scientific projects, before the Board for discussion. Out of these exploration related projects together account for about 55%. GSI has also formulated about 37 projects in international border region which include 16 mineral exploration projects spread over Western, Eastern, Northern and North-Eastern Regions.

For the upcoming Field Season 2026–27, a significant increase of about 46% in G3 stage exploration projects reflects GSI’s strategic shift towards outcome-oriented, resource-bearing exploration. Further, a major thrust has been given to critical mineral exploration, with 236 projects formulated in this domain, showcasing GSI’s progressive and focused approach towards strengthening India’s critical mineral security, which will further be enhanced.

In addition, GSI has outlined 144 projects under Natural Hazard Studies, Public Good Geoscience, and Fundamental Geoscience for Field Season 2026–27, covering landslide and geotechnical investigations, polar and glaciological research, climate change and environmental studies, along with core geoscientific research. These initiatives reaffirm GSI’s commitment to disaster risk reduction, climate resilience, and scientific innovation.

For Field Season 2026–27, GSI has also formulated 58 Geoinformatics and Data Analysis projects focusing on geospatial data generation, integration, analysis, dissemination, and management. These projects emphasize the use of advanced AI/ML modelling, legacy data integration, and emerging technologies to enhance exploration efficiency.

Further, GSI has proposed 160 training programmes across diverse themes for Training and Capacity Building of GSI personnel as well as stakeholders from Central Institutions, State Governments, PSUs, the private sector, and academia, reflecting its strong focus on human resource development and institutional strengthening.

In his keynote address, Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines emphasized for coordinated approach amongst all agencies to fast-track the exploration ecosystem in India. He added that the Geological Survey of India (GSI) will now focus primarily on critical and strategic minerals by taking up about 300 projects in 2026-27. He directed that GSI shall complete its active field season within a year with the process of continuous rolling approvals of projects instead of annual approval so that a prospective area can be explored as a whole. He further informed that, in the next five years, the Ministry of Mines plans to implement execute increased exploration projects nationwide and has urged MECL, Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NPEAs) and State DGMs to scale up their exploration efforts. Emphasising that the scale of exploration required cannot be met by any single organisation, he encouraged State Governments to take up exploration of bedded deposits through their DGMs or NPEAs. Besides, he requested industry stakeholders to work on beneficiation and mineral processing technologies in close association with the Indian Bureau of Mines, so that a strong downstream value chain is developed.

The event also witnessed the release of key GSI publications by the dignitaries. The event featured technical session which consisted emerging topics on critical mineral exploration; recovery of critical mineral from mine dumps/ tailings and identification of critical and strategic minerals at exploration stage; sub-surface data and the National Data Repository of DGH and Landslide Hazard and Forecasting by GSI. The presentations received positive response and active deliberations and discussions by various stakeholders.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, inaugurated an exhibition highlighting initiatives in Strategic and Critical Minerals exploration, where GSI, PSUs, private exploration agencies and start-ups showcased their achievements and technological advancements.

The meeting concluded on a forward-looking note, reaffirming the collective commitment to harness geoscientific excellence, technological innovation and collaborative action in strengthening India’s mineral security and advancing the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

 

Glimpses of the 65^th CGPB Meeting, New Delhi

Shri Asit Saha, DG, GSI welcoming Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Chairman CGPB at the 65th Central Geological Programming Board Meeting	Inauguration of 65th CGPB Meeting by Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines along with other dignitaries with a traditional lamp lighting
Address of Shri Piyush Goyal, Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Chairman CGPB at the 65th Central Geological Programming Board Meeting	Shri Asit Saha, Director General, GSI addressing the gathering.
Shri Sanjay Lohiya, Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Mines addressing the gathering.	Dr. Joyesh Bagchi, Additional Director General, GSI presenting the agenda items and follow up actions.
Release of GSI Publications by the dignitaries at 65th CGPB meeting.

 

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Prajith Kumar

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