The Union ministry of mines on Monday put 21 blocks of critical minerals including phosphorite, nickel, and potash under the fourth tranche of the critical minerals auction.
Of these, 11 are fresh blocks spanning across Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The remaining 10 blocks including tungsten, cobalt, nickel, vanadium, graphite are at offer as the “second attempt” blocks of previous tranches located in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Till date, the government has notified 38 critical mineral blocks for auction, with 13 unique critical and strategic minerals.
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The first tranche of the critical mineral auction did not draw major attention resulting in cancellation of 13 blocks out of 20 offered. To further improve the industry participation, the government intends to intensify roadshows and hopes the number of bidders improve in the second round.
Moreover, the country’s first lithium block Katghora, and Rare Earth Element (REE) block of Chhattisgarh has been awarded to Maiki South Mining Private Limited with an auction premium of 76.05%.
The government bears the responsibility of auctioning these blocks, and revenue generated from the auction and subsequent royalty payments will accrue to the states. In 2021, the government amended the MMDR Act, empowering the central government to notify entities, including private entities, eligible to undertake mining operations.
The government also announced a scheme for partial reimbursement of exploration expenses of the Exploration Licence holders. Under the scheme, the government will provide reimbursement of up to 50% of the exploration expenditure of the critical mineral with a cap of Rs 20 crore, said Mines Secretary V L Kantha Rao.
“Several reforms have taken place in the sector. The metal and mining sector was the sector which gave the highest dividend in FY24 in India,” the secretary said. “Of the 24 critical minerals announced in 2023, 14 minerals have been auctioned. Slowly, all the critical minerals will be auctioned.”
The scheme comes at a part of the government’s first 100-day action plan. The mines ministry is now expected to come out with the auction of offshore minerals in the next 100 days, said coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy. The government is likely to put 10 offshore minerals under the hammer.
For the current financial year 2024-25, the mines ministry is looking to monetise assets worth Rs 4,500 crore as per the target. In FY24, the mines ministry completed asset monetisation of Rs 4,200 crore against its target of Rs 4,000 crore, Rao said.
From: financialexpress
Financial News
