The norm of auctioning mining leases is going to remain and is the law of the land said Anil Mukim, Secretary, Ministry of Mines.

Speaking at the 53rd Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries, Mukim said, “Let me make it very clear, that auction regime is the law of the land. It has been almost four years since the amended MMDR Act and introduced the auction provision instead of the original first come first serve provision. I am happy to note that since we have introduced the auction regime, the results have been very encouraging. More than 65 mines have been auctioned, nine mines have been operationalised.”

Mukim was responding to criticism of the mine auction regime by industry players citing delays in handing over leases and escalated costs due to competitive bidding.

Doing some plain speak on the way ahead for the mining sector, Mukim said, “We have had a detailed meeting with all the State governments and my interaction with them has been very reassuring. I have absolutely no doubt in times to come, most of the mines, in fact, more than 95 per cent of the mines are going to get operationalised in next three to four years.”

“We expect around 20 to 25 mines to be operationalised within this financial year itself. Even as far as clearances are concerned, such as Environmental and Forest clearance, the processes have been streamlined,” Mukim added.