States are expected to auction around 20 iron ore blocks in the current financial year, including some of those which were left unsold in the last round. Odisha was the only state in the 2015-16 fiscal to have auctioned an iron ore mine, which was won by Ruias-promoted Essar Group.
The auction will help the State Government earn a revenue, including royalty, DMF and NMET, of Rs 11,328 crore over a period of 50 years. “State Governments have said that they will auction about 19-20 iron ore blocks this fiscal, which also includes mines that could not be auctioned in the first phase of auction,” a senior Govt official said.