Auction of mine leases expiring in 2020 to be taken up

The process of auctioning of mining leases which expire in 2020 would begin with immediate effect to ensure mineral production does not come down in the future, Union Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said today.
Tomar, who today chaired a meeting here of mining ministers from 21 states, said, "The Union and state governments today unanimously decided that the auctioning process of these mines, whose leases expire in 2020, should begin from today onwards so that they are auctioned before their expiry date and production does not stop."
He added that mining leases which had lived a life of 50 years would be taken up for re-auctioning as per the latest amendment in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act.

He informed that during the financial year 2017-18, 72 mining blocks would be auctioned, while in 2018-19, another 51 blocks would be auctioned.
He said the Geological Survey of India had identified 100 blocks for future explorations of which 58 would be explored by the GSI itself. The Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited would explore 30 blocks and public sectors units would take up 12 blocks.
He said that the Union government's decision to auction mineral resources had brought in more revenue for mining states.

"In the first phase, 88 blocks were selected for auctioning and the auction of 33 of these had generated revenue of Rs 1,28,000 crore for different states," he said.

Due to auctioning, the states are getting additional revenue of Rs 98,000 crore, he claimed, adding that it was one of the biggest achievements of the Narendra Modi government.
Talking about pumping back revenue earned from mineral resources to the places from where it was mined, Tomar said, "The union government, while amending the Act, had observed that mineral rich belts remained economically backward despite generating wealth for the country."
"That is why we formed the District Mineral Foundation to plough back money into areas which are affected by mining exploration. It has collected Rs 13,000 crore so far to finance 666 projects across several states," he said.