Bhubaneswar, Dec 23: The Odisha Directorate of Mines on Wednesday formally issued notification for the first phase e-auction of mines under the amended Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act.
Ghoraburahani-Sagasahi East iron ore block of Sundargarh district will be the only iron ore block has figured in the notification.
The mine has a reserve of around 90 million tonne of iron ore.
“The aspiring bidders will be asked to submit their queries, if any, by January 15 and a pre-bid conference will be held on January 20 in which transaction advisor and Steel and Mines Department Principal Secretary will remain present and clarify their doubts,” Mines Director Deepak Mohanty told media.
He also added that if any modification is required in tender documents as per their queries, it would be done by February 2. Mohanty also informed that the sale of documents will end on February 5.
He also stated that the bidding report would be submitted to the Directorate of Mines by February 10.
“We will take another 10 days for the technical evaluation of the bidding report and auction process will be finished by March 20,” Mohanty added.
As per reports, the required documents for e-auction of the lone iron ore block was approved by the Government of India while the other identified block- Jhunka-Patriposi, which is at the G3 exploration, is yet to get central nod. This block will be offered in the form of a composite license: prospecting license (PL) cum mining license (ML).
Odisha Government has already formed a Committee under the Development Commissioner in a bid to kickstart the auction process. The Committee’s mandate is to monitor the preparatory work relating to auction of major mineral concessions, including conduct of DGPS (Differential Global Positioning System) survey and preparation of tender documents.
This would be the first ever mineral auction in Odisha after the amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 2015.
