Govt yet to complete process for auction of mines: Sai
04 Dec 2015
India Coal Market Watch
December 3: Vishnu Deo Sai, Minister of State for Mines and Steel, said in the Lok Sabha that the Government of India has not completed the process for auction of mines and handed over the same to state governments. All auctions for mines are to be conducted only by the respective state governments.
The necessary rules for enabling the auction of minerals have been framed by the ministry and have been already notified in the official gazette.
The ministry has also formulated a ‘model’ tender document, including the models of notice inviting tender and information memorandum. In this regard, the MDPA (Mine Development and Production Agreement) will facilitate the state governments to expedite the auction process.
The process of auction of mineral blocks has been initiated by some state governments. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has been engaged in exploration of minerals in the country.
The central government has handed over geological reports of 75 blocks explored by GSI and 62 blocks explored by MECL to the respective state governments.
Details of these blocks are given below:
Name of the exploration agency (s) |
No. of geological reports of the blocks |
State (s) |
Expenses incurred in exploration of these blocks |
GSI |
75 |
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka, Telangana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, |
Rs 103.45 Crore ( up to October, 2015) |
MECL |
62 |
Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam |
Rs 350 Crore |
Total |
137 |
|
Rs 453.45 Cr. |