Odisha auctions 1st iron ore mine; govt to earn Rs 11,300 cr

Odisha has seen the auction of first iron ore mine following last year's new MMDRA, with government expected to earn a revenue of Rs 11,328 crore.
"Odisha yesterday successfully conducted a mining lease auction of a iron ore block with estimated reserves of over 99 million tonnes (MT) and the total revenue expected from the block over the lease period of 50 years is around Rs 11,328 crore," a senior government official said.
The total revenue includes a royalty of around Rs 2,779 crore, DMF contribution of Rs 278 crore, NMET contribution of Rs 56 crore. The total estimated value of the iron ore reserve is about Rs 18,500 crore, the official added.

In total, 14 blocks of iron ore -- a key ingredient in steel making -- have been offered by states, which includes 14 by Karnataka and one each by Maharashtra and Odisha.
This is the sixth successful auction in the ongoing process, in which the states have offered 46 blocks containing minerals such as gold, iron ore, limestone and bauxite.
After six auctions, with an estimated reserve value of Rs 23,800 crore, the government is expected to earn a total revenue of Rs 18,150 crore.

The "enthusiastic" response from miners for the auction of the gold and iron ore mine is helping in reviving interest of the industry.

Earlier, the mines auction in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan had failed to find many interested parties, forcing the state governments to talk to industry and working on re-auctioning the blocks.
The Centre expects the 12 mineral-producing states to offer as many as 70 mines in the first phase, expected to be concluded by March this year.
In March last year, Parliament passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, which paved the way for states to auction iron ore and non-coal mineral mines.