The union minister of coal and mines and the minister of state for coal and mines also declared the preferred bidders for the six blocks put up in auction during the first tranche launched on 29 November 2023.
G Kishan Reddy, the union minister of coal and mines launched the fourth tranche of auction of critical and strategic minerals in New Delhi on Monday. His deputy, minister of state for coal and mines, Satish Chandra Dubey was by his side.
This is the first big ticket event of the mines ministry since the new government took charge.
The occasion witnessed string of other events like declaration the preferred bidders for the six blocks put up in auction during the first tranche; handing over of certificates to two newly Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NPEAs); hand over the sanction letters to R&D institutes and announcement of scheme for partial reimbursement of exploration expenses by exploration licence holders.
The fourth tranche of auction launched today included 21 blocks of critical mineral. Out of these 21 blocks, 11 are fresh blocks, spanning six states: Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These blocks contain a variety of minerals including graphite, glauconite, phosphorite, potash, nickel, phosphate and rare earth elements (REE). These blocks also contain the platinum group elements (PGE) that consists of platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium and iridium, and always occur together in various types of mineral deposits.
Critical minerals too
Further, as part of this tranche, 10 critical mineral blocks are on offer as the “second attempt” blocks of previous tranches of auction. These 10 blocks are located in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and have important critical minerals like Tungsten, Vanadium, Graphite, Glauconite, Cobalt and Nickel.
Critical minerals are the foundation of contemporary industrial economies which are important component of technological advancements. The forthcoming global economy will hinge on technologies reliant on minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium, rare earth elements (REE), etc. Their scarcity or reliance on a few nations for extraction and processing could pose significant vulnerabilities to our supply chains.
The union minister of coal and mines and the minister of state for coal and mines also declared the preferred bidders for the six blocks put up in auction during the first tranche launched on 29 November 2023.
Union Minister of Coal and Mines also handed over certificates to two newly Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NPEAs) in the programme. This is in line with the aim to increase the pace of exploration in the country and to bring advanced technology in the exploration of minerals, for which the MMDR Act, 1957 was amended in 2021 to allow notification of private exploration agencies (PEAs) who can undertake exploration operations without a prospecting licence.
With the notification of these two private agencies, the total of NPEAs has increased to 22. Till now, 31 projects for different commodities have been taken by the NPEAs from NMET fund amounting to approximately ₹35.23 crores.
Further, G Kishan Reddy also announced a scheme for partial reimbursement of exploration expenses of the exploration licence holders. Under the scheme, exploration expenditure of up to 50 per cent of cost (subject to an upper limit of ₹20 crores) will be reimbursed. The provision of exploration licence was introduced through an amendment in the MMDR Act in 2023. A total of 20 blocks for exploration licence were handed over to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The state government of Karnataka and Rajasthan are the first states to notify the auction of exploration licence. Currently, auction for nine exploration licences are notified by various states. The scheme of partial reimbursement of exploration expenditure is meant to encourage smaller mining companies to participate in auction for exploration licence. Together, these will help build a strong exploration ecosystem in the country.
