Minerals and Metals

ICC National Expert Committee on Minerals and Metals

The mineral and metallurgical industries constitute the bedrock of industrial development as they provide the basic raw materials for most of the industries. It is often regarded as the backbone of the economy. The Metals & Mining industry caters to this ever-rising demand through extraction (mining) and primary and secondary processing of these metals.

With the Indian economy expected to grow by approximately 7% in the years to come, sectors such as infrastructure and automobiles will receive a renewed thrust, which would further generate demand for power and steel in the country. This is expected to provide a major boost to the demand of minerals and metals.

Demand for iron and steel is also set to continue, given the strong growth expectations for the residential and commercial building industry. However, some of the challenges like depleting resources and reserves of iron ore, steel, etc increasing competition, lack of eco-friendly technologies in the mining and production process, lack of better infrastructure are some areas of concern.

On the other hand, minerals like manganese, lead, copper, aluminium are also expected to witness double digit growth in the years ahead. There is significant scope for new mining capacities in iron ore, bauxite, and coal.

At present, aluminium is the fastest growing non-ferrous metal and its production volume is next only to steel. Domestically, the demand and consumption of aluminium is projected to rise to about three million tonnes by 2017 from nearly 1.71 million tonnes now. By 2030, aluminium consumption growth will be driven by China and India. Also, copper accounts for third in consumption after steel and aluminium. India is also among the top five zinc mining countries globally.

For global players, India is a big market for mineral resources, as metals and power demand is expected to have robust growth in long term.

Considering the importance of this sector, the ICC National Expert Committee on Minerals & Metals was formed couple of years back. It is basically a forum of all the stakeholders of the sector and it’s primarily focus is to address all the key concerns through industry experts and recommending the findings/opinion to the appropriate levels of relevant government.

ICC Expert Committee Chairman

Mr. Bhushan Agarwal, Shyam SEL

Co-chair: Mr Lalit Beriwala, Shyam Steel

Committee Member’s Profile

The ICC Expert Committee consists of members from the Minerals & Metals, Iron and Steel, non ferrous metals, Mining and Coal sector. The committee members are from the senior management of both PSEs and private organisations.

The Committee meets during various meetings to discuss the issues of concern, interact with relevant Authorities etc. The committee has the following agenda

• Working closely with Central and State Government on policy advocacy
• Take up issue of national importance along with the recommendations of industry experts with relevant authorities
• To provide relevant industry- government interaction
• To develop reports and recommendations to keep the authorities posted and updated about the chamber’s stand on various issues
• To provide industry with a platform to interact with Government through its various conferences
• To act as a catalyst for the industry and assist business.