Skip to main content

Govt eases rules for auction of mineral blocks

By
Govt eases rules for auction of mineral blocks
New mining rules to allow wider participation, ensure auctions are not called off for want of biddersIn an attempt to generate fresh interest from miners for auctions of mineral blocks, the government has amended the rules to allow wider participation and reduce the chances of auctions getting called off for want of bidders.
A statement from the ministry of mines said on Friday that the Mineral Auction Rules were amended on Thursday, a move expected to enhance investor participation in future auctions.About 34 mineral blocks across six states have been chosen for auction by the end of the current fiscal year, the statement said.
Poor investor interest due to subdued commodity prices and tighter rules led to the cancellation of about 60 auctions since 2015, when auctions replaced administrative allocation of mineral blocks.The National Democratic Alliance government had introduced auctions to remove the element of discretion in the allocation of natural resources.
So far, 33 blocks have been auctioned, which could fetch Rs1.28 trillion for states over the lifetime of the lease.The statement said the 34 blocks to be auctioned in the states of Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana are expected to fetch an additional revenue of Rs75,000 crore for states. States get royalty on the production of minerals.
As per the changed rules, auctions will not be cancelled if there are fewer than three bidders from the second round onwards. Earlier, three bidders were required up to the third round for an auction not to be cancelled.
“While a minimum of three bidders is still stipulated in the first attempt to auction, in the amended rules states have the flexibility of allocating the block in the second round itself even if there are less than three bidders. This will make the auction process less cumbersome and will help states auction mineral blocks quickly,” the statement said.
The revised rules also sharply reduce the net worth requirement for eligible bidders from Rs4 crore to Rs50 lakh for blocks with average annual production of up to Rs2 crore. It has been slashed from Rs40 crore to Rs10 crore in the case of mines, with average annual production of up to Rs20 crore, the statement said.
The end-use conditions of the mineral output have also been relaxed. The rules, however, discourage successful bidders from squatting on leases without mining, the statement added.
The Mint, New Delhi, 2nd December 2017

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Household debt up, but India still lags emerging-market economies: RBI

By
  Although household debt in India is rising, driven by increased borrowing from the financial sector, it remains lower than in other emerging-market economies (EMEs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its Financial Stability Report. It added that non-housing retail loans, largely taken for consumption, accounted for 55 per cent of total household debt.As of December 2024, India’s household debt-to-gross domestic product ratio stood at 41.9 per cent. “...Non-housing retail loans, which are mostly used for consumption purposes, formed 54.9 per cent of total household debt as of March 2025 and 25.7 per cent of disposable income as of March 2024. Moreover, the share of these loans has been growing consistently over the years, and their growth has outpaced that of both housing loans and agriculture and business loans,” the RBI said in its report.Housing loans, by contrast, made up 29 per cent of household debt, and their growth has remained steady. However, disaggregated data sho...
Post a Comment
Read more

External spillovers likely to hit India's financial system: RBI report

By
  While India’s growth remains insulated from global headwinds mainly due to buoyant domestic demand, the domestic financial system could, however, be impacted by external spillovers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its half yearly Financial Stability Report published on Monday.Furthermore, the rising global trade disputes and intensifying geopolitical hostilities could negatively impact the domestic growth outlook and reduce the demand for bank credit, which has decelerated sharply. “Moreover, it could also lead to increased risk aversion among investors and further corrections in domestic equity markets, which despite the recent correction, remain at the high end of their historical range,” the report said.It noted that there is some build-up of stress, primarily in financial markets, on account of global spillovers, which is reflected in the marginal rise in the financial system stress indicator, an indicator of the stress level in the financial system, compared to its p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Healthy balance sheets augur well for economy: RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra

By
  Large tariffs by the United States administration and elevated geopolitical risk have increased near-term global financial stability risks, and along with weather events pose downside risks to domestic growth, Reserve Bank of India(RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said in the foreword to the Financial Stability Report released today.Noting that domestic growth momentum is buoyed by strong domestic drivers, sound macroeconomic fundamentals and prudent policies, Malhotra said: “External spillovers and weather-related events could pose downside risks to growth.”On the other hand, he said the outlook for inflation is benign, and there is greater confidence in the durable alignment of inflation with the Reserve Bank’s target.Commenting that the structural shifts reshaping the global economy are making policy intervention challenging, the Governor emphasised the need for central banks and financial sector regulators to remain vigilant, prudent and agile in safeguarding their economies and...
Post a Comment
Read more