(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) The Ministry of Mines on Thursday released the State Mining Readiness Index and state rankings to promote reforms in the mining sector, in line with commitments made in the Union Budget 2025-26.

Under the SMRI, states were grouped into three categories on the basis of their mineral endowment. The top three ranked states in Category A are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, while Goa, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam have been ranked in the top three in Category B. In Category C, the top three ranks went to Punjab, Uttarakhand and Tripura.

The structure of the index comprises indicators like auction performance, early mine operationalisation, thrust on exploration and sustainable mining pertaining to non-coal minerals, which are relevant to underlining state performance in the mining sector.

Rajasthan recently became the first state in India set to auction major mineral blocks after obtaining all necessary pre-embedded permissions, a move aimed at accelerating mining operations, boosting investment, and generating employment. Other states are also preparing to follow suit.

Meanwhile, on September 26, Coal public sector undertakings (PSU) announced a performance-linked reward (PLR) of Rs 1,03,000 each for non-executive workers.

The reward payment will benefit approximately 2.1 lakh non-executive cadre employees of Coal India Ltd and its subsidiaries, along with around 38,000 non-executive workers at Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), according to the official statement.

India must gain self-reliance in the production of rare earth elements (REES), which is crucial for the country's development as well as national security, said President Droupadi Murmu on September 26. The President called REES the backbone of modern technology and stressed the need to develop technologies to make them usable.

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