The eastern Indian state of Odisha has issued a notice inviting tenders (NIT) for nine greenfield mines next month, a state government official said on Tuesday, June 16.
The official said that, while just one mineral block which would be up for competitive bidding was a combined iron ore-manganese mine, while the other eight were pure iron ore blocks.
This will be the first time mineral blocks will be auctioned with bundled mandatory clearances required for development and operationalization of the mines, so that the winning bidder could start production with a minimum gestation period, the official said.
The bundling of mandatory approvals prior to the auction of the mineral blocks is in line with guidelines issued by the federal Ministry of Mines to ensure faster development of blocks and to eliminate delays for investors in seeking various clearances from multiple government agencies.
The state government will set up a project monitoring unit (PMU), which will be responsible for securing all forest and environmental clearances and for engagement of consultants for preparation of mining plans and getting the mining plans approved by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) within 15 days, the official added.