Hyderabad: State government is preparing to auction mineral blocks

Hyderabad: The Mines Department is preparing to allot major and minor mineral blocks in the state through auction. According to sources, mineral-wise proposals have been sent by the department to the government. The Mines Department is hopeful that the auction process will begin soon after the proposal is approved by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. There are three limestone blocks and 12 minor minerals, which will be auctioned, sources said. Besides, the Mines Department had applied for Environment and Pollution Control Board (PCB) clearance for 16 blocks and these blocks will be auctioned after getting all the necessary permissions from various bodies.

The mines will be leased for 20 years to those who qualify in the auction. Usually, environmental clearance and PCB clearance for mining of minerals are given after obtaining a mining lease, however, this time these clearances were already given to the leaseholders without any cost for the auction of blocks by the Mines Department, sources said. Earlier the mines were allotted on first come, first served basis, but this time the mines will be allotted to the highest bidders. This will increase competition and the mining department will get more income. The Mines Department has so far issued 2,681 mining leases for a total of 79,751 hectares for all types of minerals across the state and of these, the number of minerals currently being mined is 1798. So far 122 leases have been given for six types of major minerals like coal, limestone and pig iron, out of which 87 are currently being mined.