Govt cancels auction of 14 of 18 critical minerals put on sale in 2nd round

The Government has canceled the auction of 14 critical mineral blocks that were put on offer in the second round of auctions.

New Delhi: The Government has canceled the auction of 14 critical mineral blocks that were offered in the second round of auctions.

The Ministry of Mines had put 18 mines of critical and strategic minerals on sale in the second tranche in February.

According to a recent notice by the Ministry of Mines posted on the MSTC website, no bids were received for five of the 14 blocks.

As a result, the auction process for these five mineral blocks has been annulled. These five blocks are located in Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

For the remaining nine blocks, the number of bids received was 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 and are important components of technological advancements. The global economy relies on technologies dependent on minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium, and rare earth elements.

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, giving the Centre the power to grant mineral concessions for 24 critical and strategic minerals.

The government had previously canceled the auction for 13 of the 20 critical mineral blocks put on sale in the first tranche due to a lukewarm response.

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