Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal made a passionate pitch for investment in India by Australian mining and energy companies, at the India-Australia Energy Dialogue here on Monday.
“We’re going to expand and mine coal for many years to come. There’s no larger market for you than India now,” he said while addressing a round table with representatives of energy companies such as Carbon Energy and Geo Energy, members of the Queensland Resources Council and the Trade and Investment authority of Queensland.
The two prerequisites are cost-effectiveness and the ability to scale up the investment fast, Goyal said, while pointing to opportunities in underground coal mining, washeries and crushers.
“We need clean coal technologies, and to learn best practices in mining, from Australian companies, which are well versed in the business,” he added.
Candid views The Minister assured investors a corruption-free environment and quick approvals for their investment proposals while asking the assembled executives to be candid in their views on investing in India.
An investor among the participants pointed out that high-value equipment imported by him into India — used for surveying mineral reserves — was held up in Customs for more than six months.
Goyal directed bureaucrats sitting next to him to open a portal where such complaints can be uploaded and brought to his notice if not solved within a set timeframe.
Later in the afternoon, the Minister and his delegation visited the Safety in Mines Testing and Research Station (SIMTARS), just outside Brisbane.
The body, set up by the Queensland government to offer training in mine safety, has a virtual reality centre that can simulate the experience inside a coal mine, including possible accidents and ways of preventing them.
Impressed by the facility, Goyal immediately invited the centre’s Director Mark Williams to visit India at the earliest and examine the possibility of setting up a similar facility.
Worker safety “Mine-worker safety is paramount and we’re ready to spend whatever is needed to set up a virtual reality centre in India,” he said, promising Williams a start-up team of 50 young employees drawn from Coal India.
(The writer is in Australia at the invitation of CII)