In the Indian mining sector, the recently introduced reforms for ease of business and the role of digitization will continue to be a key factor in its revival and growth.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on the global economy. Nations across the world are trying to cope up with its unending impact and trying to figure out its long-lasting implications. This has prompted the Indian government to look for reforms and strategies to rev up the economic engines and work towards rebooting different sectors including the Indian mining industry. The attempt is also to become Atmanirbhar encourage homegrown manufacturers and facilitate capital investments.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making the country ‘Atmanirbhar’ is deeply entangled in India’s achievement of self-sufficiency in key minerals,” says Sauvick Mazumdar, CEO, Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore, “It is a well-established fact that becoming a global economic superpower will entail exploration and extraction of natural resources sustainably for supporting the growth of the core sectors. The decision to allow participation of private interests in mining will lead to the introduction of more cost effective and innovative sustainable mining technologies. The constructive competition in the sector will help in steady growth and effective utilization of natural resources to the fullest.”

Sandeep Mathur, India CE – Brand Leader, Case India says “The coal mining sector is going through a major reform currently. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the government auctioned 41 coal blocks with liberal terms and conditions for commercial mining to ensure competition, transparency, the participation of the private sector and ease of doing business. The mining sector and subsequently the government will see more revenue and free trade which will scale up the industry. Some reports cite that the private sector involvement will bring in `33,000 crore of capital investment in the next five years. This amount of investment is sure to boost the sector and the economy to great heights and with our range of products; we’re ready to make the most of this opportunity” “After the recent policy reforms in India,” says Piero Guizzetti, CEO, MB Crusher India Pvt Ltd, “the mining sector is expected to gain momentum. All these developments will surely drive the demand for crushing and screening solutions in construction and mining activities. We are ready to complement the existing solutions that provide the large volumes as required by captive mine owners, with more targeted requirements that need flexibility and transportability.”

Impact of digitization and data in mining
While the government is trying to reform the mining sector, the stakeholders are trying to infuse innovation through technology and digitization in the workflows and supply chain. “CDE Asia,” says Manish Bhartia, MD & Promoter, CDE Asia Ltd “was one of the first companies in our industry to integrate technology into systems. It provides real-time monitoring systems for our customers, real-time data from the project site and it integrates with customers’ existing software.”

Speaking about the use of data analytics in Propels crushing plants R Duraisamy, Director – Marketing, Propel Industries says, “The data that is collected from the plants is production data, it is then logged on to the computer and the process which follows further is similar to Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). The data collected in the required format gives per hour production, information about each product and it also gives uptime of each machine. Apart from the data collection, it also has a dashboard for customer to keep a track on their plants and monitor concerned details.

The impact of digitization for surveillance and also preventive maintenance has witnessed a rise during the pandemic. On predictive monitoring of sledge pumps and hydrocyclones, Sumit Mitra, Director for Industrial Business, SKF India Limited says, “We do provide these technologies. We have monitoring solutions for any pump and motor depending upon the criticality that you decide what is the frequency that needs to be done for the equipment. For example, if its critical equipment then you need to have 24×7 online monitoring system otherwise it’s not necessary. The data which is collected gets uploaded on the cloud and only the frequency of the monitoring changes.”

Impact of Covid-19 on mining and the way ahead
The pandemic has impacted the global economy and we are working around it to be able to bounce back,” says V Senthilkumar, Managing Director, Propel Industries, “There are new challenges being thrown at people with every passing day and we need to change the challenges into opportunities. The demand from customers is changing and so is the operating ground. Geographical boundaries have become a thing of the past and the world has become one entity, thanks to the technology. We have a plan of action in place and our team is marching along that path.”

Mining industry is further divided into sub segments and the mixed impact was also because these subsegments were impacted differently. Sumit Mitra says “The situation was different for different segments. For stone crushing, which is construction related, there was a short dip for couple of months but the situation has normalized again. When we talk about mining, it also includes coal, cement where there wasn’t much of a slowdown.

The situation has also encouraged companies to invest “We have taken some serious measures for self-sustainment of our supply chain management,” says RJ Williams, Managing Director, Hailstone Innovations Pvt Ltd, “We have commissioned our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility which has separate assembly lines and tracks for all our heavily banked products which has reduced the TAT to the bare minimum possible. Maximizing the use of IoT and Industry 4.0 have enabled us to reduce our dependence on human manpower.”

Sanjeeb Nayak, Managing Director, Equipage Infracore Pvt Ltd sums up by pointing out “The industry is improving from the Covid-19 pandemic but it also faced problem with monsoon simultaneously. The coronavirus definitely created havoc but things will be promising in the coming months.”