BHUBANESWAR | Sept 06, 2015: The state government is planning to auction six mines in the first phase by October-end, according to the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act, 2015.

Though initially, the state government had targeted to auction 16 mines, the Centre said it would take a final call on the number of mines to be auctioned. Official sources said the Centre has zeroed in on six mines.

"The Centre sought details of total mining area of each block and ancillary areas of the blocks identified for auction and details about the nearby blocks. The state government would submit the details to the Centre within one week," said a mines department officer.

He said on the basis of the state government's report, the Centre may combine small patches of mines situated in nearby areas before the auction.

State steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallik said the government is in the process of finalizing the tender documents to start the auction process. "Notification for the first list of mines to be auctioned will be issued in the second week of October," he said.

Meanwhile, the state government may reserve more blocks for the steel sector in view of the demand of the steel lobby. "We have already made our stand clear that the steel-makers, who have already set up plants but does not have captive mines, will be given priority during the auction process," Mallik said.

The minister's statement came a day after the Indian Steel Association sought chief minister Naveen Patnaik's intervention to reserve more mines for the steel sector during the auction process.

According to official sources, Central PSU Metal Scrap Trade Corporation Limited would provide the online platform for auction.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)