The first day of electronic auction of iron ore as directed
by the Supreme Court witnessed a total sale of 400,000 metric tonnes at around
25 per cent more than the base price.
As many as 60 buyers from the steel and sponge iron
manufacturing companies in Karnataka participated in the e-auction and bought
about 100 lots of 4,000 tonnes each of iron ore. The auction is understood to
have fetched around Rs 180 crore.
According to industry sources the public sector MSTC, which
was appointed by the Supreme Court to conduct the auction had fixed a base
price of Rs 2,700 per tonne for iron ore fines and Rs 3,700 per tonne for iron
ore lumps with 63 and above grade. The auctions were held through the e-auction
portal, www.mstcecommerce.com.
The three mines from Bellary, Hospet and Sandur region, such
as V S Lad, Mysore Minerals Ltd and Lakshminarayana Mining Company (LMC) had
put on auction around 400,000 metric tonnes. LMC alone had made available
200,000 metric tonnes of fines and lumps on auction.
As stipulated by the
apex court, the bidders, who have submitted earnest money deposit (EMD) online
with the MSTC, will have to pay the royalty and forest development tax to the
state department of mines and geology within seven days from the date of
auction.
And once the royalty and FDT are paid, the mines department
will issue the mineral dispatch permit to remove the allotted iron ore from the
mine heads at their own cost within seven days.
The e-auctions would be held every Wednesday and at least
three times during a month until the stocks are cleared. The buyers of iron
ore, however, are restricted from exporting the iron ore as directed by the
Supreme Court.
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