Odisha Government to Auction Two Mines in First Phase of Open Bidding

The State Government has decided to put only two mines for auction in the first phase though it identified 12 blocks for open bidding.
Odisha Government to Auction Two Mines in First Phase of Open Bidding

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has decided to put only two mines for auction in the first phase though it identified 12 blocks for open bidding.

“Two mines, Ghoraburahani-Sagasahi East Iron Ore block and Jhunka-Patriposi block, will be put for auction in the first phase,” Minister of State for Steel and Mines Prafulla Kumar Mallik said in the Assembly in a written reply to a question from Naba Kishore Das (Cong) on Friday. The two mines are located in Sundargarh district.

Mallik said the 12 mines identified for auction include five iron ore mines, five limestone blocks, one bauxite mine and one manganese block.

Ghoraburanhani-Sagasahi East Iron Ore block is of 2.435 sq km with a reserve of 116.16 million tonne iron ore and Jhumka-Patriposi iron ore block covering 3.10 sq km is having reserve of 30 million tonne of iron ore as per the survey made by Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Directorate of Geology.

Official sources said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had asked officials while chairing over the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) to reserve Ghoraburahani-Sagasahi East block for the end-use of integrated steel plants.

The HLCA felt that a number of Integrated Steel Plants in the State do not have own sources of raw material supply and end-use reservation would help the domestic value addition.

'Posco Yet to Inform its Withdrawal'

Bhubaneswar: Even though the proposed steel project by Posco in Odisha has been shelved for all practical purposes, the State Government on Friday informed the Assembly that the South Korean company is yet to formally inform it in this regard. In a written reply to a question from Taraprasad Bahinipati (Cong), Minister of State for Steel and Mines Prafulla Mallik said the company had announced in the media that the project work has been temporarily frozen. 

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