Parrikar against e-auction of iron ore; favours open tendering

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today said he does not favour e-auctioning of iron ore as it burdens the state government with providing logistic support to buyers, who bid for the raw material.
E-auctioning of 15 million metric (MT) tons ore, which is currently underway as a part of the Supreme Court directives, will be completed but in future the auctioning may not be done through 'online mode', he told reporters here.
Goa has already auctioned approximately 1.7 million metric tons of ore in two phases after the apex court allowed the state to carry out e-auction of ore extracted before October 5, 2012, when it banned mining activity.

"E-auctioning for this 15 MT will continue. I am not in favour of e-auctioning methodology as a long term solution. We have to look after the logistics including transportation of the auctioned ore from mines to the port," the chief minister said.
The recent SC order gave the state government right to e-auction iron ore, which is already extracted and piled up in various mining sites, jetties and yards across Goa.
The chief minister said he favours open tendering the ore available, so that government gets due share in profits.

"You can at the most say there can be open tendering on the issue giving certain conditions. We can suggest several parameters and make only eligible people bid for the auctioning," he said.

Parrikar said the state government's look out is employment guarantee and maximisation of the profit from the ore, that would be exported.
Goa government, he said, will formulate a proper policy by June this year in consultation with the Union government for auctioning of the ore.