The report highlights how India has a rich gold mining history, but the industry’s growth has been hampered by outdated processes and underinvestment.
World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday that gold mining production in India was only 1.6 tons in 2020, while it can reasonably be expected to support annual production of about 20 tons per year in the longer term.
The report highlights how India has a rich gold mining history, but the industry’s growth has been hampered by outdated processes and underinvestment. Despite India being one of the world’s largest consumers of gold, the mining market operates on a small scale and is not easy to enter.
Somasundaram PR, Regional CEO, India, World Gold Council, commented: “Given that India is one of the world’s largest gold consuming countries, it makes sense that it develops mining capacity. But that requires change, barriers from the past must be significantly reduced and investment encouraged. In recent years there have been promising signs with the amendment of the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act and the introduction of the National Minerals Policy and the National Minerals Exploration Policy. If this trend continues in that of India, mine production is expected to increase in the coming years. That said, we don’t see this becoming a reality until the longer term, as potential investors will wait in the near future to see how successfully the new policy will be implemented and how effective it will be.”
He added: “Gold mining has the potential to provide significant sustainable socio-economic development for India, not only through investing in the exploration and mining of gold, but also through the legacy of training a skilled workforce. In addition, mining helps bring infrastructure investment to a region, by initiating and supporting related service industries, many of which often persist long after the mine’s lifespan.”
Only when investors can see real evidence that India is managing its gold mining assets more efficiently can we expect domestic investment to emerge. And at that point, the country’s gold mining sector will have a much brighter future.
According to the report, 88% of India’s gold reserves are in the state of Karnataka, another 12% in Andhra Pradesh and an insignificant amount in Jharkhand. Since its restart in 1947 to 2020, the Hutti Gold Mine, located in the Raichur district of Karnataka, has produced approximately 84 tons of gold and is currently the only major gold producer in India.
This post India’s gold mine production at 1.6 tons in 2020; can reach up to 20 tons per year
was original published at “https://www.financialexpress.com/market/commodities/indias-gold-mine-output-at-1-6-tn-in-2020-may-rise-to-20-tn-annually/2464678/”
