India's mining sector can create 25 million jobs by 2047: Report

New Delhi: India's mining sector has the potential to contribute an additional USD 500 billion to the economy and create up to 25 million incremental jobs by 2047, but achieving this will require a major shift towards "Mining 5.0" driven by artificial intelligence, integrated digital systems and sustainable operations, according to a Deloitte-ICC report.

The report titled "Mining 5.0 - Emerging Mining Technologies by 2030" said India's mining industry is entering a "structural transition" as the country's demand for minerals rises amid infrastructure expansion, energy transition goals and manufacturing growth.

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"Looking ahead to India's aspiration of becoming a US$30 trillion economy by 2047, mining has the potential to play a disproportionately transformative role," the report said. It added that the sector "can generate up to 25 million incremental jobs, direct and indirect," while "contributing as much as US$500 billion in additional GDP."

According to the report, the sector currently contributes around 2-3 per cent to India's GDP directly and supports several industries including steel, cement, power, automobiles and infrastructure.

The report said India's mining industry is now moving beyond Mining 4.0, which focused mainly on automation and digitalisation, towards "Mining 5.0", where operations are increasingly driven by integrated decision-making systems powered by AI, digital twins, automation and advanced analytics.

"Mining 5.0 represents this next evolution: A shift from volume-centric extraction to a value driven, technology-enabled, sustainable and human centric mining ecosystem," the report stated.

The report noted that while many Indian mining companies have already adopted elements of Mining 4.0, digital capabilities still remain fragmented across operations.

"Without integration, digital investments risk remaining isolated pilots with limited enterprise value," it said, adding that effective integration could help India build "system-level capabilities aligned to national priorities of energy security, sustainability and inclusive growth."

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According to Deloitte and ICC, the next phase of mining transformation will focus on integrating planning, production, logistics, maintenance, sustainability and safety into one connected decision-making ecosystem.

The report further highlighted that India's mining sector is also being driven by policy reforms, rising steel demand, critical mineral requirements and the government's self-reliance push under Atmanirbhar Bharat.

It added that technologies such as AI-based predictive safety systems, digital twins, autonomous operations, real-time monitoring systems and hybrid cloud-edge digital architectures are expected to play a key role in the future of Indian mining operations.

"Mining 5.0 is not a technology roadmap; it is a leadership agenda," the report said, adding that future success will depend on "aligning operating models and incentives with value over volume" and "treating AI and data as enterprise capabilities, not functional tools."