5 More Virgin Mines In Odisha To Be Auctioned

Bhubaneswar: Five more new mines in Odisha will be put up for auction. This is besides the 11 mineral blocks for which the state government had issued a notice inviting bids in July.

Minister of Steel and Mines Prafulla Mallick made this announcement during a function organised by the Ministry of Mines in virtual mode, on Wednesday, for handing over reports of 100 G4 mineral blocks by Geological Survey of India (GSI) to different state governments.

“We have created a separate organisation called Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation (OMEC) to expedite the process of exploration in the state,” said Mallick after receiving G-4 exploration reports of seven mineral blocks.

He further said more G-4 and G-3 exploration reports of mines will help Odisha speed up e-auction of its mineral wealth.

“Odisha has auctioned 34 mines, including 24 blocks whose leases expired by March 31, 2020. While the consent to operate has been given to 19 blocks, five blocks surrendered their leases as they failed to comply with the Mineral Auction Rule, 2015,” he informed.

Two of the five blocks being operated by the Odisha Mining Corporation with the approval of the Centre and the process to auction the remaining three blocks are already underway, he said.

Of the 11 blocks earlier offered for auction, seven are iron ore blocks, two composite blocks of iron ore and manganese, one composite block of iron ore and dolomite and a bauxite block for auction. Except for Nadidih (BICO), whose lease period expired before March 31, 2020, six blocks of Purheibahal, Chandiposhi, Jumka Pathriposhi Pahar, Dholtapahar, Netrabandha Pahar (West) and Gandhalpada are greenfield mines.

Notably, Ghoraburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block in Koira tehsil of Sundargarh district was the first block to be auctioned in India under the Mineral Auction Rule, 2015.

The mining lease was granted to ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel (AMNS) India Ltd in March this year. The iron ore block was originally bagged by Essar Steel (acquired by AMNS India) through an auction process in 2016.