Odisha to notify auctioning of 10 mines

The Odisha government has decided to notify 10 mining blocks for auction by the end of this month, Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik said on Saturday.

"In the first phase, we will auction 10 mines for which notification will be issued by the end of November. Subsequently, transaction advisor SBI Capital Markets Limited (SBI Cap) will begin the tender process and we will complete the auctions by December," said the minister.

The blocks to be auctioned include three iron ore, five manganese ore, one limestone and one bauxite block in the state.

However, the government has decided to exclude Khandadhar iron ore mines in Sundargarh district and Mankad Nacha iron ore mines in Keonjhar district in the auctioning process.

Since the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) survey and other ancillary processes for the two mines are yet to be completed, both the mines have been excluded from the auction, the minister said.

The state government had earlier decided to reserve these two blocks in favour of its mining PSU Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC).

The auction platform would be provided by central PSU MSTC Ltd.

SBI Capital Markets Ltd (SBI Caps), a fully owned subsidiary of State Bank of India (SBI), is the transaction advisor for conducting mineral auctions.

It would assist the state government in fixing floor price for auctions.