Indian government identifies 12 bauxite blocks for auction in FY 2017-18

Government of India has identified 71 mineral blocks in seven Indian states for auctioning during the current financial year. The blocks include bauxite mines and mines of gold, cement grade limestone, graphite, emerald, iron ore, manganese, copper, and limestone among others.

Among the blocks identified for auction, there are four bauxite blocks in Chhattisgarh, three bauxite blocks in Gujarat, one bauxite block in Jharkhand, and four blocks of bauxite mines in Maharashtra, the Ministry of Mines said in an official statement.

The states appraised the Centre of this decision in a meeting of the Coordination-Cum-Empowered Committee (CCEC) of the major mineral producing states in New Delhi, in the first week of June. The meeting majorly focussed on the preparedness of the states for e-auction of mineral blocks for financial year 2017-2018.

Indian Mines Secretary, Arun Kumar opined that these bauxite mines along with other mineral blocks should come through the auction route only as quite a large number of merchant mining leases have already elapsed due to the section 10A(2)(c) of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act 1957.

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“The States need to prepare their plans in advance latest by September this year and share it with Mines Ministry so that production slack can be met and the supply of essential minerals and iron ore remain smooth,” Kumar said.

As per the official statement, the mineral blocks auctioned so far will garner a total sum of INR 85,250 crore. Out of this, the additional contribution due to auction is INR 67,501 crore over the licence period of 50 years.