 "Odisha to select eligible bidders for iron ore block soon")
Seven major steel producing companies including a state run entity have submitted technical bids for the Ghorhaburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block having deposits of 99.5 million tonne.
"A technical committee of the state government today evaluated the bids submitted by seven companies. We will announce the names of successful bidders on February 25 after considering all criteria", said Deepak Mohanty, director of mines with the Odisha government.
The technical bids for the iron ore block opened on February 11. Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), JSW Steel, Bhushan Steel, Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd, Essar Steel and public sector firm Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) are among the bidders.
The Ghorhaburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block is at G2 exploration stage and located in Koira sector in Sundargarh district. The block has been reserved for integrated steel plant as end use and mining lease (ML) will be issued to the successful bidder.
The mineral concession area is spread over 139.16 hectares (ha) including 20.88 ha forest land, 110.69 ha government land and the balance 7.58 ha private land. Survey of the mineral block has been done by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
The successful bidder who bags ML for the block will obtain all statutory licenses and permits needed for mining like forest clearance, wildlife clearance, environment clearance, consent to establish, permission for mine opening and consent of the gram sabhas.
In the second round of e-auctions, the qualified bidders would submit their final price offers which would be a percentage of the mineral despatched and must be greater than the floor price. The e-auction process would be annulled if none of the qualified bidders submit final price offers. The qualified bidder who submits the highest final price offer would be declared the 'preferred bidder'.
Then, the state government would issue a 'Letter of Intent' to the preferred bidder upon payment of first installment of the upfront payment. The state government and the state government would enter into a mine development cum production agreement.
