Mines ministry meet for fast tracking clearances of auctioned blocks

The union mines ministry has convened a meeting of the Post Auction Mining Clearances and Approvals Facilitator on May 10 to expedite clearances of the mineral blocks already auctioned by states.

Hitherto, two limestone blocks and one gold block in Chhattisgarh, two limestone blocks in Jharkhand and one iron ore block in Odisha have been successfully auctioned. In Chhattisgarh, Vedanta Ltd has been named the preferred bidder for the gold block, while Century Cement and Shree Cement been the successful bidders for the two limestone deposits.

In Jharkhand, Burnpur Cement Plant has been declared the preferred bidder for the two limestone blocks. For Odisha's iron ore block, Essar Steel has emerged as the preferred bidder, upstaging strong contenders for the block like Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Bhushan Steel Ltd and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL).

The Odisha government has issued the Letter of Intent to Essar Steel valid for three years. Within this period, the company has to secure all statutory clearances for commencing mining operations. Once Essar Steel gets the approvals, the state government would enter into a mine production-cum-development agreement.

After auctions, the successful bidder is required to obtain several clearances so that the mine could be made operational.

For facilitating and expediting various clearances and approvals, an inter-ministerial group has been constituted which will act as the Post Auction Mining Clearances and Approvals Facilitator.