Seven mineral blocks to be auctioned by Odisha government in March

Minister of State for Steel and Mines Prafulla Mallick on Sunday said the State Government has lined up seven more mines for auction by end of the current financial year.
Seven mineral blocks to be auctioned by Odisha government in March

BHUBANESWAR: Minister of State for Steel and Mines Prafulla Mallick on Sunday said the State Government has lined up seven more mines for auction by end of the current financial year. “The state Government is in the process of issuing notice inviting tenders for four iron ore, two manganese and one limestone blocks by end of March,” the Minister said.

Mallick, who attended the meeting of mines ministers at Goa on Friday, said the recent amendment in the Mineral Auction Rules by the Centre will make the auction process less cumbersome and enable the State to expedite it. As many as 30 blocks across the country will be put up for auction by the end of January and if this happened, this will be the highest in a month since the auction route was adopted for allotment of mineral blocks, he said.

Earlier, the State Government had assigned the job of exploration of seven mines for upgradation from G3 to G2 level of the Mineral Exploration Corporation of India (MECL), a Government of India concern. A mineral block with G2 level of exploration has better clarity on the quantity of mineral reserve in the block, which makes it easy for the Government to decide base price and set norms for auction. Such blocks are put up in the auctions for mining licences, sources said.

Mallick said the meeting chaired by Union Minister of Mines Narendra Singh Tomar discussed the utilisation of funds collected under District Mineral Foundation. Odisha has topped the list with a collection of about `3,800 crore. The State has so far allocated funds to the tune of `2,100 crore for social welfare, protection of environment and infrastructure development of mining-affected areas and about `500 crore have been utilised.

Expressing concern over the environmental degradation of mining areas, Mallick urged the Centre to frame rules and make it mandatory for the miners to compensate the loss of forest in the areas of their operation.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com