India's exploration, production policy should be liberalised: Vedanta

New Delhi: Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal on Monday said that India's exploration and production policy should be liberalised for a wide range of metals and minerals.

The country continues to pay hefty import bills year after year even as the nation is gifted with significant reserves of metals and minerals, the metals and mining magnate

noted.

"It is becoming critical for India to liberalise its exploration and production policy for a wide range of metals, rare metals, minerals, and hydrocarbons," Agarwal said in a statement.

Robust domestic production will also insulate India from any global crisis, encourage entrepreneurship, create a large number of jobs and create a vibrant ecosystem, he said.

India, he said, can produce oil at one-fourth of the import price similar to Cairn providing oil at $26 to the government.

The country's import bill from crude oil to copper has risen sharply this year due to a rise in global commodity prices as well as depreciation in the rupee.

The country, he said, is a powerhouse of talent and on the path of making advances in the world of technology, research, and innovation.

"Our economic growth is powered by a combination of legacy industries and start-ups. Encouraging our start-ups & entrepreneurs to put their energy on the work without fear and hurdles will create massive jobs and massive revenue for the government.

"They can be encouraged to do exploration with the latest technologies like artificial intelligence, automation, and data analytics, by receiving funding from private equity and selling their licenses post-discovery. This can also lead to affordable oil and gas in India in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision."

This is the time when all the mine leases should be granted for a minimum of 50 years for better planning and execution by the companies, Agarwal said.

All existing mines, which were explored by the private sector but where work has been stopped, should be given back to them.

"... we cannot afford to stop production. A well-functioning mines and minerals sector will have a big role to play if we want to realise our dream of not just 5 trillion dollars but a 15-20 trillion dollar economy in the next two decades," he said.

Valuation of Government listed companies can be increased by 10 times by both privatizing some companies and corporatizing the others because our PSUs are endowed with not just good assets but strong human capital as well. While 20 per cent companies can be privatised, the rest, including defense factories, should be corporatized with the condition that there will be no job loss, and no one will be allowed to hold more than 5 per cent share.

"This will broad base holding and usher in professionalism while running the company. This model has already been a success in the US and western world. As our Prime Minister has said that Government has no business to be in business, privatizing or corporatising the tourism sector will also create massive employment and attract 10 times more tourists

in India. Tourists can increase from 15-20 million to about 100 million every year," Agarwal said.