Maiki South Mining Pvt Ltd has bagged the country’s first lithium block in Chhattisgarh that was put up for sale, the government said on Monday.
Photograph: Agustin Marcarian/Reuters
Meanwhile, the government cancelled the auction of 14 critical minerals that were on offer in the second round of auction.
The Katghora lithium and rare earth elements (REE) block in Chhattisgarh was awarded to the company at an auction premium of 76.05 per cent.
The result was declared during the launch of the fourth round of auctions of critical and strategic minerals.
Maiki South Mining has emerged the preferred bidder for Katghora Lithium and rare earth elements (REE) block in Chhattisgarh, the mines ministry said.
The name of the preferred bidders for the six blocks that were up for auction during the first round were announced during the launch of the fourth round of auction of critical and strategic minerals.
The other bidders for five blocks are Agrasen Sponge Pvt Ltd, Kundan Gold Mines Pvt Ltd, Dalmia Bharat Refractories Ltd, Sagar Stone Industries.
Agrasen Sponge Pvt Ltd won two blocks in Odisha, Kundan Gold Mines Pvt Ltd bagged a graphite mine in the same state, Dalmia Bharat Refractories Ltd bagged graphite block in Tamil Nadu, and Sagar Stone Industries won phosphorite block in UP.
During the function, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy announced the launch of the fourth round of auction of critical and strategic minerals in which 21 blocks have been put on sale.
Of these blocks, 11 are fresh blocks in states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka.
Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said the reforms that took place in 2015 in the mining and mineral sector is showing benefits.
According to the annulment notice of the Ministry of Mines on the MSTC website, of the 14 critical mineral blocks in the second round, no bids were received in case of five blocks, while in the case of the remaining blocks the bids received were fewer than the minimum requirement of three.
Speaking during the launch event, mines secretary V L Kantha Rao said the mines ministry will ensure the production from critical minerals begins very soon.
He also assured that in every 15 days there will be reform in the mining sector.
He further said the bidders for the third tranche of critical minerals will be announced in the middle of next month.
He said 10 offshore blocks will be put up for auction in the next 100 days.
The government received 56 physical bids and 56 online bids for 18 of the 20 blocks offered during the first tranche of the auction, which began on November 29, 2023.
However, the auction for 13 of the 20 blocks was cancelled due to a lukewarm response.
Seven of these cancelled blocks were re-notified for auction in the third round.
