Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to auction 11 mining blocks during the 2021-22 financial year.
According to mines director Debidutta Biswal, the auction process of these 11 mining blocks of iron ore, manganese, graphite, limestone and dolomite will be completed by March this year.
Stating that the auction documents of the 11 mining blocks have been sent to the government with a proposal for some changes in the auction process, he said that the bidding process will start following the government approval.
Biswal further said that the state government had set a target of the auction of 24 mining blocks in the 2020-21 financial year of which the mining lease for 19 mineral blocks could be executed.
Referring to the non-execution of the auction of three mining blocks, Biswal said as the mining lease agreement could not materialise within the stipulated time frame, the Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL) and Shyam Steel Industries Ltd had to lose Guali iron ore and Jilling-Langalota Iron ore mines, respectively. Those mines are now allotted to the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for a period of 10 years.
