Soon after setting the legislative environment in place earlier this month, the Indian government will auction 199 mining leases covering iron ore, manganese, limestone and bauxite in the first phase, an official from India’s Ministry of Mines told SteelOrbis on Thursday, January 22.
The country’s maiden allocation of mineral resources through the auction route replacing the current government ‘nomination process’ will include the provinces of Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and talks on the issue with provincial governments have already been completed, the official said.
Indicating the government’s urgency in setting the rules and pushing for allocation of mineral resources through the auction route replacing the current practice of allocation through government nomination, the Mines Ministry has set a stiff deadline for the committee headed by an official of the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) to submit a draft report by January 29, 2015 and a final report by February 13, 2015.