The Government of India has set an auction target of INR 2 lakh crore worth of minerals in 2017-18. Out of this amount, only INR 48,000 crore worth of minerals including iron ore, bauxite, limestone, and manganese was auctioned in last six months. In the next six months, and another INR 1.50 lakh crore worth of minerals will be sold, said secretary of union ministry of mines Arun Kumar. From January 2015 till March 31, 2017, industrial minerals worth INR 1,08,000 were auctioned, revealed Kumar.
Kumar was delivering the inaugural address at the 20th convention of Indian Geological Congress (IGC) 'Make in India — Challenges and Opportunities for mineral, mining and energy resources' in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
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The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015 introduced the concept of auctioning bauxite, iron ore, limestone, manganese and other industrial minerals, putting an end to an almost 6-decade-old system of allocating mining lease on a 'first-come-first-serve' basis.
Gopal Dhawan, CMD of Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) Dhawan, who is also the IGC president, said, "This convention is taking place at a crucial time when the mine and mineral industry is going through revolutionary reforms. The amendments that took place in 2015 led to transparent allocation of minerals through auction."
"Now it has become mandatory to do detailed exploration. The demand of exploration in non-coal mineral has suddenly increased manifolds, rather it has become a challenge for us to meet the expectation of the country," Dhawan said.
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