OUR MINERAL POLICY
by J.C. Kumarappa
(GUP, Jan. 1947. Also in: “The Gandhian Economy and Other Essays,” 1949)
During this month the Government of India is calling a conference to discuss the national mineral policy. It is well to remember that minerals are the treasure trove of a nation. They represent sources of employment to the people in working them. They also afford channels of international trade in proved surpluses.
Our mineral policy, therefore, will have to take into consideration these aspects. While we are not ready to work the minerals to the best advantage by our own effort nothing is lost by letting them rest where they are. It will be held in trust for generations to come, who when they are ready will be able to do justice to them. At this stage when India is not yet able to feed and clothe herself, all our efforts should be concentrated on these primary needs. Afterwards, when we have more energy at our disposal it would be necessary to investigate our mineral possibilities by scientific prospecting. It is not wise to merely dig up the ores and send them abroad. Such a course is equivalent to the action of a prodigal who sells his patrimony so as to live on it. If we are to use our resources carefully, we must transform these ores into finished products before we send them abroad. Until we are able to do that it will be in the interests of the nation to leave them alone.
Mineral wealth of a country represents the possibilities of employment also. When we export raw materials like iron ore, bauxite, manganese ore, mica, magnesite, thorium, titanium etc. in the raw state, we are really sending out the chances of employing our own people in reducing these into various usable products. And to that extent we are doing a disservice to the generations yet unborn.
The commercial possibilities of trading in these ores for other articles must not tempt us into selling our birthright for a mess of pottage. It may be that some sources may be inexhaustible humanely speaking, but still as these represent the rights of our future generations we have to deal with them with a full sense of responsibility. Our foreign trade, as far as possible, must be limited to finished products and should not include convertible raw materials.
We hope that this conference, which will consider the country’s potentialities and policies that should govern the utilization of mineral resources, will give full weight to these considerations.