India-Canada to set up a specialised centre for mining

TORONTO: In order to boost two-way investments and cooperation in the mining sector, India and Canada would set up a Centre of Excellence for training personnel in the field.

As per a pact, which was signed in 2010, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, IIT Kharagpur and four universities in Canada would set up a Centre of Excellence for training personnel in mining.

"We have the India-Ontario MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on mining, one of the first MoUs of its kind," Aaron Rosland, Counsellor (Commercial-Ontario), head of the Ontario International Marketing Centre in India told PTI.

The MoU aims at promoting Canadian investment in the fields of mining and mineral exploration and exploitation to encourage and foster mining investment, transfer of technology and joint ventures.

"We have a Working Group in the Ministry of Mines, both India and Ontario which was here in July, this year, to discuss the proposal further," Rosland said.

"40 per cent of minerals -- gold, copper, nickel, silver, zinc -- are exported from Canada, one of the biggest component contributing to the Ontario government.

The three largest areas are the US, the European Union and Japan where minerals are exported from Ontario.

Ontario government is working towards making a better business proposition by reducing risk for the investors.

The government offers 10-year Ontario Mining Tax exemption, the capital tax was eliminated in 2010.

"The reasons why Indian companies should invest in Ontario are government support, stable economy and minimising geo-political risk," Rosland said, adding that mining is a risky business and the government is working towards reducing risk for companies.