Odisha: Seven mining blocks to go under the hammer in the fourth phase

18 September 2017

The fourth phase of mining auction is set to take off soon as the state government has lined up seven more mining blocks to put under the hammer.

Informing it in a written reply to the state assembly, steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallik said the state government has so far auctioned five mining blocks that include three iron ore blocks and one each limestone and manganese blocks.

Netrabandha Pahar iron ore west block in Sundargarh, Pipalmunda limestone block (Bolangir), Naringpanga graphite block (Rayagada), Rengalbedha north east iron ore block (Sundargarh), Gandhalpada south east iron ore block (Keonjhar), Pureibahal iron ore block (Sundargarh) and Chandiposhi iron ore block (Sundargarh) are the seven blocks that would be auctioned, said the minister.

“We are in the last stage of completing formalities like preparation of geological report, differential global positioning system (DGPS) survey, a satellite survey system, scheduling of land and mapping of these seven mining blocks. The formalities would be completed by October, so that these blocks can be notified for auction in November,” director of mines Deepak Mohanty told TOI.

Mining blocks in Odisha are auction through e-auction process. Earlier, while Essar Steel was the first to bag the Ghorhaburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block in Sundargarh through e-auction process, the Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited and Thriveni Earthmovers Private Limited (TEPL) bagged the Kottameta limestone and Lasarda-Pacheri manganese blocks respectively in the second phase.

In the third phase, Bhushan Steel Limited emerged as the preferred bidders for the Kalmang west iron ore mine, Bhushan Power and Steel Limited bagged the Netrabandha Pahar iron ore block.

Asked about status of these blocks post-auction, a senior officer in the steel and mines department said it would take at least three years for the successful bidders to start mining operation as they have to complete land acquisition at the site, obtain mining plan and statutory clearances from various agencies and ministries.

Meanwhile, the state government has not achieved half of the revenue from mining and metal sectors against the targeted amount. In a separate reply, Mallik said the state government has set a target to collect Rs 6630 crore from the mining sector. “It has so far collected Rs 2395.03 crore,” he said.

Though the minister did not cite any reason behind slow start of revenue collection from mining sector, officials in the department said generally revenue collection picks up steam in the third and fourth quarters of every fiscal year.

Source-TOI