Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Limited has bagged two copper mining blocks in Chandrapur district.
The State goverment had invited bids for two Copper Composite Licenses (Prospecting License cum Mining Leases) — Thanewasna (768.62 hectare) and Dubarpeth (816.29 hectare) — on February 1, 2019 through e-auction.
“The company participated in the forward e-auction and after being technically qualified has been declared as the preferred bidder for these two blocks,” said Vedanta Limited in filing to the exchanges. It added that the block requires extensive exploration and the process will commence in due course.
FICCI had recently called for expediting auctions of mineral blocks with known or explored reserves, highlighting that the average of such auctions has nosedived to around 15 mines per year after the amendment in the Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation Act.
To ensure transparency in the mineral sector, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill was passed by the Parliament in 2015. Vedanta Limited’s shares on BSE closed down marginally at ₹165.45 in a weak Mumbai market on Tuesday, valuing the company at ₹61,501 crore.