Janardan Prasad has been appointed as the new Director-General of the Geological Survey Of India (GSI), one of the country’s oldest institutions.
Prasad takes the charge from Dr S Raju, who held the post since May 2020. Known for his extensive mineral exploration work in Saurashtra and other areas of Gujarat, Prasad joined the 174-year-old scientific institution in 1988 at GSI Gandhinagar as a geologist.
The appointment comes at a time when the government is preparing to auction the lithium block discovered by GSI in February. The institute had established 5.9 million tonnes of inferred lithium resources in Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir. A critical metal, lithium is a key component used for electric vehicle batteries and holds the power to start EV revolution in the country.
Prasad is also experienced in Metallogeny and Mineral Exploration studies. He has carried out extensive mineral exploration work in Saurashtra and other areas of Gujarat in commodities like limestone, gold, base metal, PGE and bauxite. He has also been actively involved in the exploration of limestone, which was critical for the cement industry, said the institute.
He was last posted as the Additional Director General & Head of the Department (ADG & HoD) of the southern region since June 2020, and was also Chairman, TCC, National Mineral Exploration Trust, New Delhi. He has worked in Gandhinagar, Shillong, Patna, Faridabad, Ranchi and Hyderabad in various capacities.
Prasad was also part of the Justice MB Shah commission that led the enquiry of illegal mining of iron and manganese in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
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