Need for easing climate norms for miners as input costs soar amid resource depletion Experts

New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) The mining and metals industry, despite being a major greenhouse gas emitter, needs easing of environmental norm compliance to tackle the new challenge of escalating exploration costs due to depleting resources, according to experts.
     The sector is estimated to contribute up to seven per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and mining operators are mandated to seek environmental clearances before getting the nod for excavating the resources.
     Miners' body FIMI (Federation of Indian Mineral Industries) said that India has limited or no established resources of many critical minerals and deep-seated minerals.
     It said that owing to the focus on reducing GHG emissions, there is a need to revisit the existing regulatory framework to economise the extraction of minerals and metals.
     "With mining and metals contributing up to seven per cent of global emissions, the real pressure point ahead is resource depletion," KEP Engineering Services Managing Director Malu Kamble said.
     Pavan Kaushik, co-founder of advisory firm Gurukshetra Consultancy, said that the metal and mining sector is entering a structurally different phase, where depletion of high-grade mineral deposits is fundamentally altering both sustainability outcomes and extraction economics.
     "We are moving into an era where mineral quality is declining. This means more earth must be disturbed, more water must be drawn, and more energy must be consumed to extract the same value. The cost of extraction - both economic and environmental - will only increase from here," he explained.
     He noted that while sustainability has evolved into a structured and reportable function under global frameworks, including those shaped by the United Nations, it continues to operate largely within compliance boundaries.
     "Environmental clearances, mine closure plans and ESG disclosures define the industry's licence to operate. But they are designed for compliance within defined limits - not for managing cumulative ecological stress or long-term resource depletion," he said.
     Highlighting the need for a change in policy, he said that the existing frameworks may not be calibrated for future realities of declining resource quality.
     For policymakers, the challenge is to move from static thresholds to dynamic frameworks that recognise regional carrying capacity. Water, land and biodiversity cannot be managed in silos when extraction intensity is rising," he said.
     "For miners, the next phase will not be about extracting more; it will be about extracting smarter. Value per tonne will matter more than volume per tonne. This requires rethinking mine planning, beneficiation, waste utilisation and progressive closure from the outset," he added.
     Coal India arm South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL) CMD Harish Duhan said that CIL plans "calibrated reductions" in greenhouse gas emissions through solar projects, energy efficiency, plantations, and better first-mile connectivity to mines.
     Adding an operational perspective on water sustainability, Kamble, whose company has commissioned over 650 industrial liquid waste treatment plants across 550 industries in more than 35 sectors, said water management will be central to mining sustainability.
     "As extraction intensity rises, wastewater generation will increase proportionately. The industry must move from treatment as a compliance requirement to treatment as a resource recovery system, where every drop is reused, not discharged," Kamble said.
     He added that technology and intent must go hand in hand.
     "Zero liquid discharge and advanced treatment systems are no longer optional in high-impact sectors like mining and metals. The real benchmark will be how efficiently industries close the loop between extraction, processing and water reuse," he said.
     At the same time, Kaushik underscored the sector's indispensable role in economic development.
     "Mining is not optional, it underpins infrastructure, energy systems and industrial growth. It supports millions of livelihoods. The question is not whether to mine, but how responsibly it is done in the context of finite and depleting resources," he said.
     He added that sustainability must move beyond site-level metrics to system-level accountability.
     "A mining operation can be compliant within its boundary and still create stress outside it. Water neutrality at the site level means little if the region is water-scarce. This gap between compliance and consequence is where the real issue lies," he said.
     With India positioned as one of the world's largest producers of coal and iron ore and the demand expected to rise, Kaushik said the country has an opportunity to redefine how mining integrates with nature.
     "The future of mining will not be defined by compliance alone, but by how responsibly we manage depletion. The cost of ignoring this reality will be far higher than the cost of addressing it today," he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)