The government of the western Indian state of Goa will auction 1 million mt of iron ore lumps and fines currently lying idle at dumps across the state, government officials said on Thursday, September 14.
The sources said that the volume will be auctioned in 22 lots and will open for bidding on October 4.
The last date for inspection of the site and assessment of quality has been set for September 25.
Under the auction terms, tonnages purchased at the auction by an end-user must be mandatorily used for domestic consumption and no intermediate sale or exports will be permitted. Similarly, all volumes purchased at the auction by an exporter will also have to be mandatorily sold overseas and cannot be permitted for diversion and local sales.
All tonnages secured at the auction have to be transported out of the location within 90 days of completion of the auction process, the terms said.
Iron ore mining in Goa remains halted since 2018 following an order of the Indian Supreme Court and the Goa government has been periodically auctioning idle dumps lying within and outside erstwhile mining lease areas.