E-auction of minerals in Odisha to be delayed

Consuming industries in Odisha and other states waiting to source key bulk minerals like iron ore, chrome ore and manganese through the e-auction platform have to wait for at least 2-3 months as the process of electronic sale is headed for delay.

The Supreme Court appointed central empowered committee (CEC) has urged the Odisha government to analyse price trends of ore sold by top miners including state owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) and compare the same with prevailing auction prices.

The state government had given in-principle nod for starting the auction process but was awaiting a directive from the CEC to enforce it on private miners.

"E-auction sale of minerals is set to be delayed. The CEC has sought information from us regarding price differential between normal sale price of mine lessees and e-auction prices. The committee has also pointed out the possibility of disputes between buyers and sellers that may arise due to auction sale. We are going to have another meeting with the CEC in July. Once we get the concurrence of the CEC, we hope to start e-auction within a month," said steel & mines secretary Rajesh Verma.

After regulatory curbs on mining in Karnataka and Goa, Odisha is destined to play a key role in supply of iron ore. Sale of the ore on the electronic route is expected to ensure transparency.

Odisha has raised cap on iron ore output from Joda and Koira, its two most ore producing sectors to 57 million tonne (mnt) this fiscal, nearly 10 per cent higher than 52 mnt in 2012-13, to ensure greater raw material availability for the consumer industries.

Though the government has not estimated revenue generation from e-auction, sale of iron ore alone through the electronic route is expected to fetch additional revenue of Rs 400 crore for the government annually.

MSTC Ltd and mjunction services, a 50:50 joint venture between Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Tata Steel, had evinced interest to offer e-auction services for mineral ores for the state. The decision of selection of the service provider was pending at the government level.