Union Govt Cancels Auction of Five Critical Mineral Blocks After Poor Response
The Wire Staff
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New Delhi: Following lukewarm response, the Union government has cancelled the auction of five critical mineral blocks, including a rare earth element (REE) block in Karnataka, in the fifth round of auction.
Of the five blocks, no bids were made for three blocks including two glauconite mines in Gujarat and Chhattisgarh and one Nickel and PGE (Platinum Group Element) block in Karnataka.
The poor response led to cancellation of their auction, said the mines ministry in a notice, reported Press Trust of India.
The sale of two other blocks including a tungsten mine in Maharashtra and an REE block in Karnataka was also annulled because the criteria of minimum three technically qualified bidders could not be met.
The fifth tranche of auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks was launched in January, and of the 15 blocks put on auction, 10 have been auctioned.
The 10 auctioned blocks include critical and strategic minerals such as graphite, phosphorite, phosphate, REE, vanadium and potash and halite in states like Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, reported PTI.
Some of the companies which secured the mineral blocks in the fifth round of auction are Coal India, Oil India, NLC India, and Vedanta Group's Hindustan Zinc.
So far, 34 blocks have been auctioned in five rounds out of the 55 put for sale.
The auctions are part of the Union government's efforts to make India self-reliant on critical mineral resources.
Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and REEs are important raw materials to fuel the growth of rapidly-growing clean energy technologies.
In recent months, increasing number of companies have been awaiting licences from China’s Commerce Ministry to procure rare-earth magnets.
On April 4, China had issued orders mandating exporters that ship medium and heavy rare earth magnets to seek a licence from its commerce department after getting an end-user certificate from the buyer.
In FY 25, India imported around $200 million worth of rare-earth magnets. A majority of these imports were used in automotive and industrial applications.
In electric two-wheelers, motors cost between Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 15,000, with rare earth magnets accounting for around 30 per cent of the motor cost.
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