Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines, assumed charge of his Mines Ministry in the presence of outgoing minister Shri Piyush Goyal, now the Minister of Railways and Coal in New Delhi today. The Secretary Mines, Shri Arun Kumar and senior officers of the mines ministry welcomed the Minister and discussed the ongoing work in the mining sector for the new minister to take over from hereon from Shri Goyal. Shri Tomar who was also holding the mines portfolio in his earlier stint as Mines Minister from May 2014 to July 2016 said that there will be no gaps in the working of the ministry and he will continue with better speed the work done by his predecessor.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, Shri Tomar said that a lot has been done so far but there is always more scope for doing better and fast work in the mining sector as contribution of the mineral sector towards Growth of the GDP is significant and has to be improved further in collaboration with the States. He said, with the Amendment in the MMDR Act in 2015, the Auctions of mines so far has led to an additional revenue of over Rs. 1,22,000 Crores accruing to the States during the life span of the mines in 50 years.  In addition, the amount collected in the DMF funds in the Districts affected by the mining activities is over Rs. 10000 crores till now, which will be spent in the development of these very districts and the people of these districts. He said, Mining sector is a priority area for the Modi Government and the use of latest technology will bring further transparency and better monitoring in the mining sector. He will have a review meeting with the senior officers of the ministry in a couple of days, to get ahead with the roadmap in association with the States for a better speed in the auctioning and sustainable development and working of mines.

YSK/SNC