Madhya Pradesh govt notifies record 51 mineral blocks for auction

13 blocks have been put up for mining lease, with 38 blocks up for a composite license

Madhya Pradesh on Friday issued a tender for the auction of 51 mineral blocks, the highest number of mineral blocks notified for auctions in a single tranche by any state.

The blocks for auction include critical minerals such as graphite, vanadium, and  Platinum Group of Elements (PGE). Blocks containing manganese, bauxite, limestone, iron ore, base metal, and gold have also been notified for the auction.

13 blocks have been notified for a mining lease, with 38 blocks up for a composite license. The Ministry of Mines said Madhya Pradesh had issued the highest number of tenders for the mineral block auctions among all states in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), having auctioned 29 blocks during the year.

Since the introduction of the auction regime in 2015, Madhya Pradesh has notified 125 mineral blocks for auction, of which 46 have been successfully auctioned. With the notification of these 51 blocks, Madhya Pradesh has put up a total of 176 mineral blocks for auction.

After the introduction of the auction regime in 2015, 754 blocks have been put up for auctions by state governments, out of which 276 blocks have been successfully auctioned. Bihar, West Bengal, Telangana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Kerala have not auctioned any blocks since 2015, the ministry added.

Last year, state-owned NMDC conducted an e-auction of 8,337 carats of rough diamonds produced at its Panna diamond mines in Madhya Pradesh. NMDC's diamond mining project at Majhgawan Panna happens to be the only mechanised diamond mine in the country.