 "Odisha to put up one iron ore block for auctions")
Though the state government had listed two iron ore deposits for auctions in the first phase, only one will be put up in the notification. The identified block is Ghoraburahani-Sagasahi East iron ore block in Sundargarh district, with a reserve of over 100 million tonne. The successful bidder will bag the mining lease (ML) for the block. The offered block is reserved for an integrated steel plant. While auctions will be done as per guidelines listed under Mineral Auction Rules, 2015 the state governments reserve the right to decide the end use of a block.
"In the notification, we are offering just iron ore block. The notification will be issued on Wednesday", said state steel & mines minister Prafulla Mallick.
The other identified block- Jhunka-Patriposi is yet to get approval from the Union mines ministry for auctions. This block is at the G3 exploration stage and will be offered in the form of a composite license (prospecting license- PL cum ML).
This would be the first mineral auctions in Odisha after the framing of the amended Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 2015.
The auction platform is set to be provided by central PSU MSTC Ltd. SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBI Caps), a fully owned subsidiary of State Bank of India is the transaction advisor for conducting mineral auctions. The transaction advisor would assist the state government in fixing floor price for auctions.
To kickstart the auction process, the state government has already formed a committee under its development commissioner. The committee's mandate is to monitor the preparatory work relating to auction of major mineral concessions including conduct of DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) survey and preparation of tender documents.
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Realising the need for exploration, the state government has already come out with a dedicated policy on mineral exploration. Central government agencies like Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) were being roped in by the state to carry out exploration work of the identified mineral blocks.
According to the notified Auction Rules, 2015, the state governments will have the discretion to reserve particular mine or mines for any particular end use. Auctions can be conducted only through an online electronic platform. The state government may utilise any online platform which meets the minimum technical and security requirements as specified in the guidelines for compliance to quality requirements of e-procurements issued by the standardisation testing and quality certification directorate under department of information technology. The Union government has proposed an upfront payment of 0.5 per cent of value of resources by companies, who secure licence for mining major minerals like iron ore through auction under the new law.