The World Gold Council today launched a report titled ‘Gold Mining in India’, as part of a series of in-depth analysis on the Indian gold market. The report highlights how India has a rich heritage of gold mining, but the industry’s growth has been hampered by legacy processes and under-investments. In 2020 gold mine production was just 1.6 tonnes.The three areas that have been problematic in the development of the gold mining are Regulatory challenges, Taxation policies, Infrastructure. In March 2015, Parliament approved an amendment to the Mines and Minerals Act 1957 which allowed private companies to bid for mining leases via a competitive auction process and extended the period for major mining leases from 30 to 50 years.
In June 2016 the government approved the National Minerals Exploration Policy to stimulate mining exploration and in March 2019 the government announced the implementation of the new National Mineral Policy to reduce bottlenecks and encourage development in the sector. According to data published by the Ministry of Mines, India’s current defined gold reserves total 70.1t. Hutti Gold Mine, located in the Raichur district of Karnataka, has produced some 84t of gold and is currently the only significant gold producer in India. India’s current resources could reasonably be expected to support annual output of approximately 20t per year in the longer-term.
Royalty rates from primary gold production in India are set at 4% of the LBMA gold price. This would also provide direct employment for an estimated 3,000-4,000 people in addition to those currently employed in the industry.The Regional CEO of India of World Gold Council Somasundaram PR said, “There are promising signs in recent years with the changes to the Mines and Minerals Act and introduction of National Mineral Policy and National Minerals Exploration Policy.”
