Centre asks MP, Andhra, Odisha to speed up mines auction

Centre has asked the governments of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh to speed up mines auction even as it has lauded the efforts of six other states including Gujarat and Rajasthan for starting the process.
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have initiated the auction of 31 mineral blocks, while MP, AP and Odisha is yet to initiate the process.
Centre raised concerns with the states at the coordination-cum-empowered committee (CCEC) meeting earlier this month. CCEC is chaired by the Union Mines Secretary.
At the meeting Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar "pointed out that some state governments are still lagging behind", a senior government official said.

He asked MP, Odisha and AP to expedite and issue the NITs (Notice Inviting Tenders) of mineral blocks identified for the first phase of auction at the earliest, he added.
According to the data provided by the state governments at the CCEC meeting, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat have issued NITs for five mineral blocks each, Jharkhand and Rajasthan for three each, Maharashtra for four and Karnataka for 11.

According to the minutes of the meeting, the secretary has also "expressed deep concern" on the delay in notifying the remaining blocks identified for the first phase of auction -- eight blocks by Rajasthan, six blocks by Maharashtra and two blocks by Jharkhand.

At the meeting, mines secretary praised the efforts of the six states that issues NITs for auction of mineral blocks.
Mines Ministry expects the first phase of mines auction to be over by March, Kumar told PTI last week adding that the government expects to auction 65-70 mines containing minerals such as iron ore, bauxite and limestone in the phase.
"States have put 31 blocks to go for auction in the current auction. By month-end, we expect 18-19 more to come and in the next 1-2 months another 16 are expected. So by the end of this fiscal 65-70 mining blocks can be auctioned," he had said.