Agreement Signed For Harnessing Potash In Rajasthan, To Boost India’s Fertilizer And Chemical Industry

Paving the way for the first solution mining project in the country, a tripartite agreement was signed between Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL), Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Limited (RSMML) and government of Rajasthan for taking up feasibility studies of solution mining of Potash in Rajasthan, the Ministry of Mines said in a statement.

The MoU was signed virtually in the presence of Union Minister for Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs Prahlad Joshi, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Arjun Ram Meghwal and Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot.

“MoU will pave the way to undertake feasibility studies for harnessing sub-surface salt deposits through solution mining, utilize Rajasthan’s rich mineral reserves, boost its economy and establish it as a hub of solution mining of potash, the first in the country,” Minister Prahlad Joshi said at the event.

Rajasthan has huge Potash and Halite resources spread across 50,000 square kilometers in the Nagaur - Ganganagar basin in the northwest.

Bedded Salt formations are strategically useful for underground oil storage, repositories for hydrogen, ammonia and helium gas, storage of compressed gas and nuclear waste. Potash and Sodium Chloride from the Bedded Salt are extensively used in the Fertilizer Industry and the Chemical Industry respectively.

This project will generate employment as well as support the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan by boosting the import substitution through increasing domestic mineral production of Potash and associated minerals.