Status on Diamond Reserves & Extraction in the Country

Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi has informed that As per National Mineral Inventory, the State wise details of reserves and remaining resources of Diamond (in both freehold and lease hold area) in the country are as follows:

(Unit: In Carats)

The government has taken various steps to increase extraction of minerals including diamond in the country. The Mines and Minerals Development & Regulation Act [MMDR] has been comprehensively amended through MMDR Amendment Act 2015 and Mineral Laws Amendment Act, 2020 to boost mineral sector, ease of doing business, enhanced exploration and exploitation, etc. In order to give further impetus to mineral production, the Central Government has further amended the MMDR Act in 2021 and undertaken other reforms. Some of the major reforms brought in 2021 are as under:

(i) Mineral Blocks for Composite Licence can be auctioned at G4 level of exploration instead of G3 level as per the earlier standard.

(ii) Private entities may be notified under Section 4(1) of the MMDR Act for conducting exploration.

Since the enactment of MMDR Act in 2015, GSI has handed over one G3 report and five G4 reports of Diamond to the State Government for auctioning. The State-wise and Block-wise details are as follows:

The State-wise production and average daily employment in the Diamond mines, as per returns submitted under Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017, from 2018-19 to 2020-21, are as follows:

Provisional Data