BHUBANESWAR | Aug 18, 2016: After a gap of nine months, the state government on Wednesday announced to auction five more mines soon. "The mines are ready for the bidders. The auction is most likely to be done within two weeks," steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallik said here. The entire auction process, including bidding and transaction of money will be conducted online, the minister said.
The mines listed to go under the hammer include four limestone blocks at Kotameta, Uskalvagu (both in Malkangiri district), Garamura (Nuapada district), Jampali (Bargarh district) and one manganese block, Lasarda Pacheri, in Keonjhar district.
The minister said official notification detailing the auction process would be issued either in August last week or first week of September, the minister said.
The state government after the new Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act came into force in March 2015 has been able to auction only one new mine in December 2015.
The rule mandates state governments to upgrade the mines from what is called G-2 level to G-3 level before auction. Earlier prospecting licenses used to be given first to potential users before according mining leases, thereby taking years for the whole process of mining to start.
Official sources said since most new mines in the state are at G-2 level awaiting upgradation, the government has not been able to auction them.
Revenue from the mining sector accounts for bulk of the governments earning. The government earns around Rs 6,000 crore from the operational mines. The mine, an iron ore deposit at Ghorhaburhani-Segasahi in Sundargarh district, which was actioned in December is estimated to fetch the government about Rs 11,500 crore in 50 years.
The revenue to be earned from the five mines scheduled to be auctioned will be known after the completion of the process, said a senior official in the mines department adding two iron ore and one bauxite mines are being readied for auction in the near future.
Union mines secretary Balvinder Kumar during his visit to the state in June had asked the government to expedite the mining auction process as Odisha is way behind compared to other states.
(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)