Arunachal Pradesh is extremely rich in various mineral resources just as it is endowed with endless natural beauty - it’s a line that will be unmistakably found in any standard geography school book. This fact has been a cause of pride of all Arunachalees for long and after confirmation by the Geological Survey of India, the country’s foremost organization in this regard, that the state alone has 35% of national graphite reserves,elation and hope have naturally multiplied. At the same time GSI has also been requested to concentrate their survey activities along the China border since a huge cache of mineral wealth have been unearthed there, just beyond the state’s border. All these will surely have far reaching positive ramifications for the state’s economic future, only if the rest i.e mining and commercial exercises follow well.

Although GSI’s corroboration has just come in, the state’s mineral potential and as a land with further hidden treasures have earlier been echoed by many geological experts. Besides graphite, reserves for  a large number of metallic and non-metallic occurrences such as limestone, dolomite, pyrite, lead, zinc, coal, oil & natural gas, etc are also impressive. And interpreting the entire prospects  under light of the basics of the subject matter of economics, it is clear that there are enormous scope of flourish for mineral based industries such as fertilizer, cement, pencil etc. But graphite can alone be a game changer for Arunachal since its global demand is rising beyond expectations. Besides its traditional uses in steel, cement, glass, foundries and pencils, its demand has suddenly skyrocketed due to is increasing application in lithium-ion batteries that we use daily in laptops, smartphones and many other home gadgets.

It is not unknown how China has already started large-scale mining operations on its side of the border with Arunachal after the discovery of a huge stock of gold, silver and other precious minerals valued at about US 60 billion dollars. This has automatically triggered a hope that there might be possibilities of such similar treasures in this part too due to  geological proximity or continuation, although all are currently in stages of presumptions and can only be confirmed after profound surveys and explorations. For discovering anynatural wealth, systematic investigations and reliable data gathering is an essential precondition. And there should be no qualms to admit that the present state of blurriness is all because of poor surveys , or lack of detail information or adequate infrastructures, which China had done successfully within a short span of time.

Although a huge time has been wasted, it’s always better late than never. All actions must take momentum since it’s an El Dorado inviting to be explored.