In a rush to mine gold, the Centre has finally agreed to divert 150 hectare of forest land in Madhya Pradesh for gold mining.
A private company plans to mine 130 kg of gold annually in the Singrauli district. This region is part of India’s Mahakoshal mineral belt which is known for hosting gold, sulphides, nickel, platinum group elements (PGE) and other associated minerals.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)’s environmental appraisal committee (EAC) scrutinized and examined the proposal, recommending approval for the mining project on forest land. In its approval, the EAC allowed the proposal from Kundan Gold Mines Private Limited to excavate a maximum of 1.12 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) on 149.30 hectare of forest land located in the Gurhar Pahar Gold Block in Chitrangi tehsil of Singrauli district. This will include extracting 130 kg of raw, unprocessed gold directly from the mine with the remaining 990 kg considered waste.
Earlier estimates showed that the area contains 39.2 tonne of gold reserves which could be extracted over 35 years.
Initial assessments indicated roughly 7.29 million tonne of gold ore with an average grade of 1.03 gram per tonne over a strike length of 3,037.94 meter.
The company had submitted mining proposal in August 2024, claiming the mining lease area covers 143.80 hectare of forest land and 5.50 hectare of government barren land. Later, it discovered that the entire area is classified as forest land. They reapplied in August 2025, confirming that the entire lease area falls under forest land. Based on an analysis of the project, the EAC recommended approval of the proposal.