The State Government has auctioned at least 23 iron ore, manganese and chrome ore blocks having resources worth Rs 4.87 lakh crore.

The Government of India had the State Government to go for auction of the mineral blocks whose term would end on March 31, 2020.

“This is one of the biggest auctions of its kind; and Odisha stands top among the States,” said a senior Department of Steel and Mines official. The State would get one of the highest premiums like 144% in one block, Guali Iron Ore, the auction of which ended on March 18.

While Jharkhand, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh are far behind in conducting auction of their mineral blocks, Odisha has undertaken the auction process without much hassle.

Out of the 23 auctioned mineral blocks, 11 are in Keonjhar district, eight in Sundargarh, three in Jajpur and one in Mayurbhanj. Resource wise, iron ore blocks contain 1,716.92 million tonnes (MT), manganese 8.77 MT and chrome ore 104.96 MT, all worth a total Rs 4,87,082 crore, according to official estimates.

While the auction process started for two chromite blocks on July 31, 2019, then on October 4 a second round of auction process began, which was cancelled; and later an NIT (notice inviting tender) was issued on December 6.

For Sukinda Chrome Ore and Guali Iron Ore, the NIT was issued in January and completed on March 17. The Sukinda block in Jajpur district having 406 hectares with a 92.55-MT deposit went to the TS Alloys with a premium of 93.75%. The TS Alloys is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, which gained the control of the Sukinda chromite mines having a deposit worth Rs 70,929 crore.

The Guali iron ore block auction came up with a floor price of 105% and ended in 144%, which went to the Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) on March 18. The Guali block in Keonjhar district is 355 hectares having a deposit of 198.74 MT worth Rs 39,877 crore.

This will be a captive mine of JSPL, which has a 6-MT steel complex at Angul and would expanding the plant capacity to 20 MT in near future.

The premium for iron ore mines in the State which ranges between 90% and 140% is higher than the average premium fetched in auction in Karnataka, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.

While Odisha has auctioned 23 mineral blocks, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh have been able to auction one each and Karnataka has been successful in auctioning 12 blocks, officials here said.