Posted on 30 Nov 2021
India’s steel ministry has directed state-run public sector units (PSU) to commence mining activities at their non-functional mines. Union steel minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh gave the order during a meeting with the chief managing directors of Steel Authority of India (Sail), NMDC and Manganese Ore India (MOIL), Kallanish notes.
"The steel minister expressed his concern over the non-operationalisation of certain mines,” the ministry says. “He [steel minister] has directed the concerned CPSEs [Central Public Sector Enterprises] to finalise the roadmap for starting mining operations in these non-working leases/mines.”
“The minister has directed the steel PSUs to expedite regulatory compliances to avoid lapsing of the leases of the mines. The CPSEs have been directed to submit a status report at the earliest to minister,” it adds.
On a separate note, the Odisha government has invited bids for auctioning six mineral blocks through e-auction. The six blocks include one iron ore and manganese, four limestone and one graphite mines. While the limestone and graphite blocks are unmined, it is the government’s second attempt to auction the Teherai iron and manganese block.
The Directorate of Mines at the Steel and Mines Department has invited bids only in digital format, while technical bids have been invited through both digital and physical formats. The last date for the purchase of tender documents is 29 November; bids can be submitted by 6 December.
The price of tender documents for each limestone block is INR 200,000 ($2,664) and INR 500,000 ($6,659) for the Teherai iron ore and manganese block.
Source:Kallanish
