India eyes huge investment to double its mining output

New Delhi

INDIA expects to woo one trillion rupees (S$22.2 billion) of investment over five years to double mining output and cut mineral imports.

The government's goal is to fast-track exploration, including upfront payments for discovered deposits when the mines are auctioned, Mines Minister Piyush Goyal said in an interview. The administration will invite foreign companies to participate, he said, while acknowledging challenges such as land acquisition and environmental hurdles.

"We're working to change the rules of the game from doing small amounts of exploration in an incremental fashion to doing it on a fast-track, one-shot, big-picture way," Mr Goyal, 52, said on Saturday in New Delhi. There is "easily" scope to pour 50 billion rupees into the search for de…