Country's mining industry is projected to touch over $30 billion (about Rs 1,27,662 crore) accounting for about 2.5% of the GDP in the next four years, a latest report said. "Considering India's mineral resources, we believe there is strong potential for further development and scaling up of the country's mining industry. "We believe that the mining industry could grow to $30 billion plus by 2012 and reach 2.5% of GDP, if India develops a conducive regulatory framework and attracts significant investment in exploration, mine development and infrastructure,' a report by financial services firm Edelweiss stated on Tuesday. The report on metals and mining pointed out that India has immense natural resources and is ranked among top 10 globally for deposits in iron ore at 25.2 billion tonne, coal 257.4 billion tonne and bauxite 3.3 billion tonne, which constitute 3%, 10%, and 4% respectively of the world's resources. The country also holds leading position globally in mica (No 1), barytes (No 2), chromite (No 4), kaolin (No 4), and manganese (No 7), the report said.'These are significant numbers and imply that India has the potential to develop a scaled up, world class mining industry. Some progress has been made and in iron ore, for instance, India ranks third amongst various exporting countries,' the report said. The report said the proposed National Mineral Policy and the allotment of captive coal blocks (in effect opening up the nationalized coal sector) are the key triggers for future development of mining in India. The ongoing bull run in minerals has created enormous wealth for investors. Market cap of the leading global mining companies has increased at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 39% per annum from calender year 2001 to 2007, while the corresponding figure for top Indian miners is a whopping 139% per annum. "As the Indian mining industry scales further, we see both new and the existing mining players offering significant wealth creation opportunities to investors,' it further said. PTI