India 2018

364 India 2018
Ministry has developed a Transparency, Auction, Monitoring and Resource
Augmentation (TAMRA) Portal and mobile application. This will be an
interactive platform for all stakeholders to compress the timelines for statutory/
other clearances.
Star Rating of Mines
The Ministry of Mines launched in 2016 Scheme of Star Rating of Mines/ mining
leases for implementation of Sustainable Development Framework (SDF). The
Star Ratings are to be awarded, based on evaluation of performance of mines
on techno, socio-economic and environmental parameters and give objective
reporting of their activities. It has been instituted as a two tier system providing
self-evaluation templates to be filled in by the mine operator followed by
validation through Indian Bureau of Mines.
Mining Surveillance System
To curb on menace of illegal mining, a satellite-based monitoring system namely
Mining Surveillance System (MSS), was developed and launched which aims
to establish a regime of responsive mineral administration through automatic
remote sensing detection technology. The latest satellite image is juxtaposed on
geo-referenced mining lease maps to check any illegal mining in the vicinity.
Bauxite
Total resources of bauxite as per United Nations Framework Classification
(UNFC) in the country as in 2015 are placed at 3,897 million tonnes. These
resources include 656 million tonnes reserves and 3,240 million tonnes remaining
resources. By grades, about 81 per cent resources are of metallurgical grade.
The resources of refractory and chemical grades are limited and together account
for about 5 per cent. By States, Odisha alone accounts for 51 per cent of country's
resources of bauxite followed by Andhra Pradesh (16 per cent), Gujarat (9 per
cent), Jharkhand (6 per cent), Maharashtra (5 per cent) and Chhattisgarh and
Madhya Pradesh (4 per cent each). Major bauxite resources are concentrated in
the east coast bauxite deposits in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Chromite
As per UNFC system, total resources of chromite in the country as in 2015 are
estimated at 344 million tonnes, comprising 102 million tonnes reserves (30 per
cent) and 242 million tonnes remaining resources (70 per cent). About 96 per
cent resources of chromite are located in Odisha, mostly in the Sukinda valley
in Jajpur and Keonjhar districts. Minor deposits are scattered over Manipur,
Nagaland, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana. Gradewise, charge-chrome grade accounts for 31 per
cent resources followed by ferrochrome grade (18 per cent), beneficiable grade
(25 per cent) and refractory grade 14 per cent. Low, others, unclassified and not
known grades together account for 13 per cent.