Mines and steel minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday urged the Jharkhand government to go ahead with auctions of minerals in the state. Tomar handed over detailed exploration reports of 10 mineral blocks in the state to chief minister Raghubar Das.
“The MMDR (Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation) Act was amended in January 2015 to harness the immense mining potential of mineral-rich states like Jharkhand. It is now incumbent on us to expedite the process and realise its benefits,” said Tomar at an event in New Delhi.
The auction of minerals is based on a similar model to the two rounds of coal auctions organized by the coal ministry this year. However, unlike the coal auctions, the minerals are supposed to be auctioned by the state governments. The rules of auction were published by the mines ministry on 20 May. Till now, no mine has been auctioned by any state.
Tomar had provided Jharkhand with 14 regional exploration reports and two detailed exploration reports for limestone in January this year. Currently equipped with detailed exploration reports for 12 blocks, Jharkhand is in a position to start auctioning mining leases for these blocks. As for the regional exploration reports of 14 blocks, the state has an option to either auction leases to carry out prospecting licence-cum-mining lease, or go in for further detailed exploration.
source:Live Mint