Despite India being one of the countries of the Gondwanaland, its mining industry contributes much less to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in percentage. Discuss.

As a Gondwanaland fragment, India inherited rich mineral wealth — nearly all its coal lies in Gondwana strata, alongside world-class iron ore, bauxite and manganese belts — yet mining and quarrying add only about 2 per cent of GDP, against over 10 per cent in Gondwana peer Australia. The paradox is one of governance, not geology.

Why the contribution stays low

• Under-exploration: only a small fraction of India’s obvious geological potential has been explored in detail, and private or foreign exploration investment remains minimal.
• Technological lag: dominance of shallow opencast mining, little deep or seabed mining, and low productivity in state-dominated segments.
• Regulatory friction: multi-layered forest, environment and land clearances, delayed auctions and policy uncertainty after the coal-block cancellations (2014).
• Judicial shocks: Supreme Court iron-ore bans in Karnataka (2011) and Goa (2012) after illegal-mining scandals cut output sharply.
• Socio-environmental overlap: major belts lie under forests and Fifth Schedule tribal areas, where displacement, weak consent and left-wing extremism raise conflict and costs.
• Structural weaknesses: poor evacuation logistics and export of low-value ore instead of domestic beneficiation.

Reforms are correcting course — MMDR Amendments (2015, 2021) with transparent auctions, commercial coal mining (2020), the National Mineral Exploration Policy (2016), District Mineral Foundation funds, and the critical-minerals push since 2023. Unlocking the Gondwana endowment responsibly — with consent and safeguards — can make mining a real engine of growth.