The mines industry has issued a notice stating cancellation of auction of five critical mineral blocks owing to poor response by bidders. One of these blocks was for a rare earth element, which had been in shortage after China placed restrictions on its exports. It recently lifted restriction on the import of rare earth elements to India.
Meanwhile, the government said there were no bids for three blocks – two glauconite mines in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh, and one Nickel and PGE (Platinum Group Element) block in Karnataka – which led to cancellation of their auction.
Besides, sale of two other blocks – a tungsten mine in Maharashtra and an REE block in Karnataka – was annulled for lack of minimum three technically qualified bidders, it said.
This was the fifth tranche of auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks that was launched back in January.
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Of 15 blocks put on auction, 10 that have been auctioned comprise critical and strategic minerals including graphite, phosphorite, phosphate, REE, vanadium and potash and halite, spread across Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Major enterprises such as Coal India, Oil India, NLC India, and Vedanta Group’s Hindustan Zinc were some of the companies that secured key mineral blocks in the fifth round of auction.
A total of 34 blocks have been auctioned in five rounds out of the 55 put for sale as part of the government’s efforts to make India self-reliant in critical mineral resources after China’s snub.
Critical minerals like copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and REEs are essential raw materials to fuel the growth of rapidly-growing clean energy technologies like electric vehicles, semi-conductors, electronics items, wind turbines, etc.
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