Ranchi | Nov 02, 2017:

State urban development minister CP Singh addresses the mining meet in Ranchi on Wednesday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

Curtains came down on Wednesday on the three-day Jharkhand Mining Show with the state government signing three MoUs in mineral exploration and cement and steel sectors and announcing the Parasi gold block in Tamar block of Ranchi district had been auctioned to Rungta Mines.

The first MoU was inked with Mineral Exploration Corporation (MECL) to correctly explore the quantum of mineral reserves in the state.

MoUs were also signed with Shree Cement for setting up a 1.5 metric tonne plant in Seraikela and with Vedanta to set up a steel plant at Manoharpur in West Singhbhum.

State industries and mines secretary Sunil Barnwal clarified that the deals signed with Shree Cements and Vedanta were second stage MoUs. "After this, these companies would submit concrete proposals of what exactly they would do for setting up their proposed units," he said.

Chief secretary Rajbala Verma said the three-day summit had over 5,000 visitors and was addressed by senior corporate leaders and mining experts of both public and private sector undertakings. "We will soon be signing another MoU with Adani Group. They would be investing over Rs 20,000 crore in the next five years and generate jobs for over 10,000 people. We will finalise deals of another nearly 30 mineral blocks in the next few days. A lion's share of the earnings through these deals would be spent to develop the specific mining zone," she said.

In his address, state's urban development minister C.P. Singh stressed that all the MoUs should fructify at the earliest. "An MoU in my opinion is a sort of wedding engagement. I believe in chat mangni pat byah (marriage just after engagement)," he said.

(Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/)