Auction Of 14 Out Of 18 Critical Minerals Blocks Cancelled

The government has cancelled the auction of 14 critical mineral blocks that were put on offer in the second round of auction. The mines ministry had put 18 mines of critical and strategic minerals on sale in the second tranche in February. According to a recent notice of the ministry of mines posted on MSTC website, of the 14 blocks, no bids were received in the case of five.

Since there were no bids received, the auction process for these five mineral blocks stands annulled, it said. The five blocks are located in Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

In the case of remaining nine blocks, the bids received were fewer than the minimum requirement of three. These nine blocks are located in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Critical minerals are the foundation of contemporary industrial economies which are important component of technological advancements. The global economy will hinge on technologies reliant on minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium, rare earth elements etc.

Their scarcity or reliance on a few nations for extraction and processing could pose significant vulnerabilities to India's supply chains.

The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) was amended last year under which the Centre was given the power to grant mineral concession of 24 critical and strategic minerals.

The government had earlier also cancelled the auction for 13 of the 20 critical minerals blocks put on sale in the first tranche due to lukewarm response.

Of the 20 blocks put on offer, 56 physical bids and 56 online bids were received for 18 blocks.