The State Mines Directorate on Wednesday issued a notification for the first phase e-auction of mines under the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.
Only one iron ore block, Ghoraburahani-Sagasahi East iron ore block in Sundargarh district with a reserve of around 90 million tonnes of ore, figured in the notification though the Government had listed two iron ore deposits for auction in the first phase.
With the issue of the notification, selling of the tender documents also started from Wednesday, said Mines Director Deepak Mohanty.
Mohanty said the willing bidders would ask queries, if any, by January 15 and a pre-bid conference would be held on January 20 in which the Steel and Mines Department Principal Secretary, who is transaction advisor, would remain present to clarify doubts. If any modification is required in the tender documents as per the bidders’ queries, it would be done by February 2 and the sale of documents would end on February 5.
The bidding report would be submitted to the Directorate of Mines by February 10. “We will take another 10 days for technical evaluation of the bidding report and the auction process will be completed by March 20,” Mohanty informed.
This would be the first mineral auction in Odisha after the amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, 2015.