Date | August 17, 2017:
In what is being touted as one of the biggest success stories in e-auctioning of mines in Gujarat, the state government is all set to earn a whopping Rs 16201 crore from the three limestone mines auctioned in Kutch district. This is almost 2.5 times the revenue, the state would have earned had the administration followed the traditional allotment process, say officials.
“Despite the poor sentiments prevailing in the cement industry, we have earned a premium while auctioning three mines in Mudhvay area of Kutch district. This was the first e-auction conducted for a major mineral in the state,” Roopwant Singh, head of Commissionerate of Geology and Mining, Government of Gujarat told The Indian Express.
The three mines put together have a total reserve of 751 million tonne of limestone that are expected to last for 50 years. “The government would have earned Rs 6620 crore as royalty income if the mines were allotted. Now it gets Rs 6620 crore and an additional Rs 9581 crore as auction premium over royalty,” Singh said adding that transparency, speed and competitiveness were some of the major advantages of e-auctioning process.
Adani Cementation Ltd, JSW Cement Ltd and Shree Cement Ltd, who won the bids for Mudhvay Sub-block C (325 million tonnes), Mudhvay sub-blockD (125 million tonnes) and Mudhvay Sub BlockB (301 million tonne) respectively will be together be paying Rs 324 crore annually to Gujarat Government for a 50-year-period, which is the estimated age of the mines. Government of Gujarat has issued the Letter of Intent (LoI) to the respective “preferred bidders” on June 21, 2017.
“The payment of first instalment, being 10 percent of the up-front payment, has been received from all preferred bidders,” said Singh. Gujarat produces 59 minerals, of which 38 are major and 21 minor minerals with sizeable reserves of limestone and lignite. Gujarat has about 7800 mining leases of which 468 are for major minerals like Limestone, Lignite and Bauxite that contribute to 45 percent of the annual revenues.
GOVT TO AUCTION NINE LIMESTONE & BAUXITE MINES
Buoyed by this success, Gujarat government has scheduled to auction nine limestone and bauxite mines in the next 6-9 months. “These nine mines will provide Gujarat with an estimated Rs 1500 crore in revenues annually,” the official said. While the bauxite mines that will come up for e-auction are in Dev Bhoomi Dwarka district, the limestone mines are located in the districts of Gir Somnath, Kutch, Jamangar and Porbandar.
“We will also be redesigning three additional limestone blocks in Kutch and Jamnagar districts and will be putting them up for auction in the coming months,” Singh added.
Among minor minerals, the Government is planning to auction 175 blocks spread over 612 hectares in nine district. Most of this is black trap and sand. “Apart from this, we will also be auctioning eight blocks of sand in Gandhinagar next month,” Singh added.
(Source: http://indianexpress.com/)