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Journalism of Courage
State-run NMDC will invest Rs 20 crore to mine one lakh carats of diamonds from Panna mines in Madhya Pradesh in the next fiscal. The mines were reopened today after four years following the Supreme Courts conditional clearance for starting mining operations. The NMDC started trial runs in June 2009 after paying about Rs 11 crore to the state government.
Re-dedicating the mines to the nation,steel minister Virbhadra Singh said NMDC would also try to explore areas adjoining Panna to find more diamond reserves. The PSU is already making intense efforts in locating diamond reserves in Chattarpur district and coal deposits in Shahdol and Umaria districts of the state, Singh said.
Pledging to make Panna a diamond-making hub,the minister asked the Madhya Pradesh government to come forward to facilitate mining giant NMDC in exploring more iron ore,coal,sandstone and diamond reserves in Madhya Pradesh through more prospecting licences.
The minister, however,made it clear that making a particular place a diamond hub was not easy unless the volume of production is such that it could attract the entrepreneurs from diamond cutting and polishing industries to set up units here.
The company will produce 35,000 carats of diamonds in the current fiscal. Till October we will be able to do a meagre 5,000 carats. In the remaining period of the current fiscal,we will mine about 30,000 carats of diamond, he said. The Panna mines have an estimated reserves of 12 lakh carats of diamond.
The mines currently employs about 240 people. More jobs in the region could be created with the resumption of mining activities. The reopening of Panna mines is one of the major achievments for the UPA government in its first 100 days.
