India: Odisha to auction six mineral blocks next week

~By Meera Mohanty/SteelMint Bureau

Two iron ore, another virgin block and a manganese will be auctioned by the Odisha government next week according to government sources. Notice inviting tender for the Kodadidih iron ore block in Koira, mined by Aditya Birla Group’s Essel Mining until 26 August 2021, and two mines that Orissa Manganese and Minerals held rights to until March last year – the Orahuri Manganese and Iron ore block and the Kusumdihi Manganese blocks in Sundargarh – will be published on 29 Mar’22.

Along with these the state government is expected to also auction a virgin iron ore block, Kedasala North East. On the previous day, on 28 Mar’22, it will be calling for initial price offers for a virgin limestone block in Bargarh, Behera- Bhanjipali and a virgin graphite block in Rayagada, Naringpanga. Forward auction for both these blocks will take place on 29 Mar’22.

Naveen Patnaik’s government was to auction a slightly different set of mines earlier this month. While the auctions itself had to be postponed till after the Panchayat elections, it has also dropped the bauxite deposits on the preliminary list to wait for the Supreme Court to decide on a challenge to its last attempt at auctioning a bauxite deposit, in that case, the Karlapat bauxite reserve.