The Maharashtra Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday approved the establishment of Mining Authority in the Maoist-infected Gadchiroli district for the management of major and industrial minor minerals.
The authority will be headed by the Chief Minister. The Cabinet’s approval came days after the Chief Minister had announced that Gadchiroli will become the steel hub of the country as it has already attracted an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore.
The authority, chaired by the Chief Minister, will have the Mining Minister as its vice-chairman and will include ministers nominated by the government, the Chief Secretary and a total of 13 members.
On the other hand, an executive committee has been formed under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to implement the decisions taken by the authority. The executive committee will have a total of 11 members, including the chairman, and it will implement the decisions of the authority.
The Cabinet also gave clearance to draft legislation for the establishment of the Gadchiroli District Mining Authority for the management of major minerals and specific industrial minor minerals.
“Intending to take the state’s economy to one trillion dollars, there is a need to create a supportive industrial environment for setting up ultra mega projects as well as Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) projects in Gadchiroli. With this aim, a proposal was submitted to set up this authority for the planned development and monitoring of the mineral sector in the district, which was approved today,” said the state government release.
The authority will function under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and the amended Act, 2015 and the Major and Minor Minerals Rules, 2013, and will oversee the formulation of necessary policies for the orderly development of mineral resources in the district, approval of new mineral projects and auction of mining leases, as well as the implementation of approved mining leases.
The authority will accelerate the development of the mineral sector in Gadchiroli district and give a boost to industrial projects.
Meanwhile, the state Cabinet also cleared the formation of an Empowered Committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for the government-promoted MARVEL for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government and semi-government offices for administrative works.
The Maharashtra Research and Vigilance for Enhanced Law Enforcement (MARVEL) was created in 2024 to enhance intelligence capabilities and improve crime prediction, enabling the state police force to tackle law enforcement more effectively using AI.
The decision to form the Empowered Committee was taken when various government and semi-government offices and departments in the state were planning to implement a number of projects related to artificial intelligence technology.
MARVEL will help in these projects to ensure that government information remains confidential and secure. For this, the scope of work of this company will be expanded. The Empowered Committee will examine the project case-wise and take decisions regarding the projects..
