(Info) Mining and Quarrying In Bundelkhand

Bundelkhand

Mining & Quarrying

Mining and Quarrying In Bundelkhand

From the national perspective, the important minerals of Bundelkhand are (see also 'Mineral Wealth' in Geology of Bundelkhand) diaspore, used in paints and ceramics industries, glass sand, rock phosphate, a variety of stones and soils, and raw materials like lime for the cement industry.

Panna is the only source of diamonds in India, but the damage caused by diamond mining is more than the benefits accrued to the country.

Lalitpur, Jhansi and Mahoba districts account for around 15% of the country's reserves and nearly 40% of the country's production of diaspore [Planning Commission, Vol I, p 102]. The mineral is also found and extracted in large quantities in Chhatarpur district.

Silica or glass sand extracted from vast, shallow pits in a corner of Chitrakoot (Mau tehsil) adjoining Allahabad district is the best source of this mineral in India. The raw material is required by thermal power plants, glass and ceramic units across the country. While some of the deposits are mined by private contractors, the National Mineral Development Corporation has set up large scale mining and beneficiation units.

(A large glass manufacturing unit was set up by the UP government to locally exploit this resource. However, the project was opposed by local mining contractors and the unit never took off. Its remnants, along the road from Chitrakootdham-Karwi to Allahabad, are several ghostly buildings, a few staff who have absolutely no work, and a court notice on the main gate. )

Rock phosphate found in Lalitpur is sold as a direct fertilizer and as raw material for phosphorus plants. The UP government plans to set up a joint sector unit in the district for producing 1,30,000 tonnes of concentrate annually. Downstream industries are also under consideration.

Across Bundelkhand Upland sub-region, stone quarrying is widespread and has grown rapidly since the 1990s. There is good scope for growth but there many problems with this industry.

In case of other minerals also there are good prospects for growth. Apart from possibilities that may emerge as a result of new explorations, there is good scope for setting up sponge iron units in Lalitpur, sourcing large reserves of low grade (25-30% iron) found in the district near Girar village. Quartz reefs, a striking feature of Bundelkhand’s granite country (see Geology of Bundelkhand), contain several minerals of use in the ferro-silicon, iron and steel, refractory, ceramics, electrical, abrasives and silicon-based industries.

Cement Industry

Cement plants, using locally available raw materials, namely cement grey limestone, clay and gypsum, are located in Damoh and Jhansi. The Diamond Cement factory of the Birla group, set up near Damoh town, provides direct employment to over a thousand people, and is Bundelkhand's only large industrial unit, apart from the public sector BHEL unit in Jhansi.