Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources remarked that India is producing iron ore below its potential because of lack of an open and simple exploration policy that will allow exploration of resources in a sustainable manner.
The fear that such a policy would lead to rampant environmental degradation is unfounded, he said. With scientific mining and latest technology in mine development and production, these concerns can be fully addressed, he added.
Given India's reserve level, it is in a position to produce quantities matching Brazil's and Australia's, which produce in the range of 600 million tonne per annum. Against this, the country has so far been producing a modest quantity of 125 million tonne on yearly basis that also stands drastically reduced, he said.
Also, he pointed out that India has been unable to tap into the large aluminium market, widely known as a green metal, and lost out to countries like China that have to fully import the raw material.
Even with 3.5 billion tonne of bauxite, which is the third largest reserve of bauxite in the world, India only manages an annual production of 1.5 million tonne of aluminium. In contrast, China that has no reserves of bauxite, produces about 20 million tonne of aluminium annually.
A self-declaration policy will allow the companies to take responsibility for their actions, while enabling the government to impose heavy penalties in case of violations. It is in the industry's interest to increase mineral reserves through exploration to provide value to the stakeholders in a sustainable manner, he said.