In a bid to resume iron ore mining in the region, the government of the western Indian state of Goa has decided to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) for the purpose of identifying new mineral blocks in the state, a government official said on Thursday, April 22.
The official said that, following identification of new iron ore blocks, these will be put up for auction and successful bidders will be take up mining operations at the assets.
This will boost the resumption of iron ore mining in Goa, stalled since 2018 following a Supreme Court order which ruled that the renewal of licenses of lease holders was illegal and that renewals did not occur through the mandated auction process.
Under the proposed MoU with MECL, slated to be signed next month, the latter will identify iron ore reserves and blocks will be demarcated within it and, if there are no legal disputes, the blocks will be put up for auction.
The auctions will be conducted by Goa Mining Corporation, an entity to be floated by the Goa government, the official said.