Circular economy in the Indian extractive industry: A preliminary analytical assessment of the major mining companies

The concept of circular economy (CE) has garnered considerable attention as an instrument to achieve environmental sustainability. The mining sector worldwide has sought to introduce it too, for making its operations environment friendly. India, which is endowed with a multitude of minerals, is also undergoing this course correction. Using conceptual content analysis, the paper attempts to analyse the extent to which mining companies in India are adopting the principles of CE in their operations, in terms of the presence of words associated with CE in their reports. The analysis is done for 13 selected mining companies based on the quantum of their mineral production, from 2018–19 to 2023–24. The paper draws out the various contexts under which the mining companies are considering the notion of CE. Overall, the mention of CE-oriented words in the reports is found to be more implicit than explicit, broadly associated with emissions, inputs, or waste. Input recycling, resource recovery and reuse, mine water treatment and water conservation, and emissions mitigation hold primacy as reasons for adopting CE. Recovery of utilised resources for reuse is seen to be an important area of consideration for the companies, which indicates that they recognise and are keen to address the resource scarcity problem. The obtained results are indicative of the progressive focus of the Indian extractive industry on the adoption of CE practices in its mining-related operations, aimed significantly towards ensuring environmental sustainability, with an additional emphasis on societal benefits. • Conceptual content analysis is used to detect the mention of CE in the reports of Indian mining companies. • Presence of discussion related to CE is found to be more implicit than explicit among such publications. • Input reuse and recycling, and emissions reduction dominate the discussions on CE. • Coal companies offer fewer insights on CE than other mining companies.