Kolkata, Jan 31 (IANS) The union cabinet has cleared the proposal of the ministry of mines to increase the highly-skilled manpower of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for exploration activities, an official said Tuesday.
“GSI would recruit around 1,098 scientists in the next five years to increase the exploration activities… the cabinet has approved it,” Ministry of Mines Additional Secretary S.K. Srivastava told mediapersons on the sidelines of the Asian Mining Congress here.
Srivastava said the recruitment would facilitate speedy evaluation of mineral resources.
“We are aiming to tap all our resources by the end of the 12th (Five Year) Plan period,” he stated.
Mining exploration in the country currently covered only 19 percent of geo-chemical resources and 15 percent of geo-physical resources, far below the exploration coverage made by other mineral rich countries.
Environmental issues and illegal mining came in the way of the growth of the mining sector, especially coal mining, Srivastava added.
