J'khand to start auction process for mineral mines in a month

Mineral-rich Jharkhand will start the process for auctioning of mines within a month, state Chief Minister Raghubar Das said today.
Besides, the Chief Minister also affirmed his commitment to Steel and Mines Minister Narendra Singh Tomar for setting up the ultra mega steel plant in the state, which will require 3,000 acres of land and an assured reserve of 200 million tonnes (MT) of iron ore, an official statement said today.
"Das assured Singh that District Mineral Foundation will be constituted within a month's time and work for auctioning of mining leases will begin within the same time," the statement said.

Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar; Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Jharkhand, Sanjay Kumar and senior officials of Ministry of Mines, Jharkhand government and related PSUs also attended the meeting.
Tomar, as per statement, handed over the detailed exploration reports of 10 blocks of Jharkhand to Das in New Delhi.
The reports, prepared as part of Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd's (MECL) promotional exploration, include reports for 7 copper blocks and 3 gold blocks.

Tomar said, "The MMDR Act was amended in January 2015 to harness the immense mining potential of mineral rich states like Jharkhand. It is now incumbent on us to expedite the process and realise its benefits."

He urged Das and senior officials of the state and ministry to focus on implementation and create visible change in the status of mining and the welfare of peripheral and tribal population.
The statement said in January Tomar had provided Jharkhand Chief Minister with 14 regional exploration reports, comprising 12 for bauxite and 2 for gold, and 2 detailed exploration reports for limestone.
"Currently equipped with detailed exploration reports for 12 blocks, Jharkhand is in a position to start auctioning mining leases for these blocks. As for the regional exploration reports of 14 blocks, the state has an option to either go in for auctioning of leases for carrying out PL-cum-ML (prospecting license-cum-mining license), or to go in for detailed exploration.

MECL Ltd CMD Gopal Dhawan highlighted Jharkhand's hidden potential in gold and suggested that the state could begin auctioning of PL-cum-ML of the mineral since it is a non-notified one.
Steel Minister Tomar also offered the help of parastatal exploration agencies such as Geological Survey of India (GSI) and MECL in assisting the state in exploration work.
Referring to the successful auctioning of coal blocks in recent past, Tomar said the state could utilise the expertise of MSTC Ltd, a PSU under the Ministry of Steel, which had provided the digital platform to carry out the auctioning of coal blocks.

According to Tomar, MSTC CMD S K Tripathi has expressed his willingness to visit the state at the earliest to help in the process.