MIO 2022: Odisha To Put Best Mineral Blocks On Auction

Bhubaneswar: Highlighting Odisha’s abundant minerals, Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Kumar Mallik on Friday said the state offers immense opportunities for investors, but the industry must focus on environment-friendly mining.

Addressing a business leadership talk at ‘Make in Odisha Conclave 2022’ in Bhubaneswar, the Minister said the state has great opportunities for investors as it is endowed with abundant mineral resources.

He said that under the 5T intervention of the state government, utmost transparency has been ensured through i3MS module.

Emphasising the need for adoption of technology to reduce adverse impact on environment, the Minister advised that the industry must focus on eco friendly mining.

Speaking at the talk on “Mineral Abundance: Opportunities for Industry and State”,  Principal Secretary, Steel and Mines, Deoranjan Kumar Singh told the delegates about mineral auction, exploration, revamped LTL Policy and raw material evacuation plans of the government to further attract investors in the sector.

Stating that the state has plans to put in the best resources of iron ore, bauxite and manganese blocks in the next phase of auction, Singh said exploration is one of the prime focus areas now with the Odisha Mining Exploration Corporation (OMECL) going for a complete resource mapping.

He said the long term linkage policy of Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) has been revamped and rewritten as per which 80% of the minerals produced by OMC shall be given to long term linkage players to ensure that the small and medium industry players are also benefited from this.

Singh further informed that the state government is formulating a very robust mechanism for raw material evacuation plan which will substantially reduce the road transportation by prioritising slurry pipe lines and rail network.

In the closing remarks, Managing Director of OMC Balwant Singh reiterated that with the adoption of technologies, advanced logistics and progressive policies, the state will attract interest from many investors at this flagship platform.