Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to resume the auctions of mineral blocks that had been stalled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sources in the government said Friday that the auction of the mineral blocks will be completed by the end of January.
The Odisha government has formed a committee to look into the auctions. It will be headed by the Development Commissioner. It government has instructed the committee to finalise the auction schedule of the 14 blocks having minerals like iron ore, manganese, limestone, dolomite and graphite.
The mineral blocks that are to be auctioned are Garamurarh, Behera-Bhanjipali, Pipalmunda, Chandiposhi, Uskalvagu, Pureibahal, Netrabandhapahad (west), Jhumka Parthiriposi, Dholtapahad, Gandhalpada, Kasia, Naringpanga, Unchabali and Kalimati.
As advised by the Centre, the Odisha government may also auction some of the blocks with pre-embedded clearances. This will be done to speed up mining operations. To address the delay in mining production due to lack of statutory clearances the Ministry of Mines had released guidelines June 3 for the auction of mineral blocks with pre-embedded clearance.
“It takes years for the successful bidders to get clearances from authorities of the central and state governments to start mining operation. So this time the government has decided to auction blocks with pre-embedded clearances (by obtaining all clearances),” said an official. “The move is aimed to promote ease of doing business in the mining sector and to make the auction process competitive,” the official added.
Notably, the Odisha government had successfully auctioned more than 20 mineral blocks in January-February of this year. Things however, took a different turn once the pandemic broke.
PNN
