The composite license of Katghora Lithium and REE (Rare Earth Elements) block in Chhattisgarh has been awarded to Maiki South Mining at an auction premium of 76.05%.
Minister for Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, had launched the 4th tranche of the auction for critical mineral blocks. The tranche included 21 critical blocks of minerals, of which 11 blocks were a part of the first attempt, while 10 were a part of the second attempt.
The 11 fresh blocks span six states: Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These blocks contain a variety of minerals including Graphite, Glauconite, Phosphorite, Potash, Nickel, PGE, Phosphate and Rare Earth Elements.
The 10 critical mineral blocks offered in the second attempt of previous auction tranches are situated in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. These blocks contain essential minerals such as Tungsten, Vanadium, Graphite, Glauconite, Cobalt, and Nickel.
The Minister declared the preferred bidders for the 6 blocks put up in auction during the first tranche, handed over certificates to two newly Notified Private Exploration Agencies (NPEAs) and sanction letters to R&D institutes.
With the notification of these two private agencies, the total of NPEAs has increased to 22. Till now, 31 projects for different commodities have been taken by the NPEAs from NMET funds amounting to approximately 35.23 crore.
The Ministry also launched a scheme for partial reimbursement of exploration expenses for license holders, which provides for reimbursement of expenditure up to 50% of the cost, subject to component-wise limits. The Ministry of Mines has allocated a budget of ₹712 crore for R&D projects and a budget of ₹770 crore for science and technology.
Apart from the name of the bidder of the Katghora Lithium block in Chhattisgarh, the names of the following 5 bidders were also announced:
- Agrasen Sponge for the Babja Graphite and Manganese block in Odisha
- Agrasen Sponge for the Biarpalli Graphite and Manganese block in Odisha
- Kundan Gold Mines for the Akharkata Graphite Block in Odisha
- Dalmia Bharat Refractories for the Iluppakudi Graphite Block in Tamil Nadu
- Sagar Stone Industries for Pahadi Kalan Gora Kalan Phosphorite block in Uttar Pradesh