Minister for Mines Pralhad Joshi has urged the Geological Survey of India GSI to reduce the time taken in completing field survey and submission of reports on potential mineral resource deposits in the country. The Minister asked GSI to complete survey and preparation of report in an year's time using latest technologies.<br />''<br />''Addressing the 61st meeting of Central Geological Programming Board CGPB in New Delhi yesterday, Mr Joshi said that GSI having a legacy of 175 years of existence as a prestigious institution is expected to contribute to the recent efforts of the Ministry of Mines to attain self-sufficiency in mineral resources. He said that efforts of GSI and the private sector can contribute considerably towards this.<br />''<br />''The Minister pointed out that India is having vast deposits of minerals, however, it is importing different types of minerals in big quantities and this is true in the case of fertilizers also. Mr Joshi called upon the scientists of GSI to analyse global trends in preparing potential mineral deposit reports. Stressing upon the importance of latest technology in mining exploration, He promised all kinds of assistance to GSI from the Ministry of Mines.<br />''<br />''On the occasion, the Minister handed over seven resource-bearing geological reports G2 and G3 stage of commodities like copper, bauxite, potash, limestone and iron and manganese to the representatives of the state DGMs of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. <br />''<br />''Potential G4 mineral blocks, for auction as Composite License have been handed over to the representatives of 11 states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Rajasthan. These potential blocks consist of mineral commodities like base metal, bauxite, phosphorite, gypsum, limestone, graphite, gold, nickel, chromium, iron, manganese, PGE and diamond. A few publications and a video on Marine Mineral Exploration by GSI were also released during the meeting.<br />''<br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Earlier, addressing the meeting during the concluding session Mines Secretary Alok Tondon said that a number of  new projects are being taken up by GSI based on the request from state Governments. He said that India is at par with any other rich nation as far as mineral resources are concerned.</span><br />