Govt to revise mining auction timelines

Panaji: The auction of the four mining blocks has drawn in a huge response from mining and steel companies prompting the directorate of mines and geology (DMG) to revise the timeline for the auctioning process so as to give it time to respond to all the queries. This could lead to a delay in the auctioning of the mining blocks.
The last day for the state government to respond to the queries was Thursday.
“The responses will be uploaded shortly on the e-auction portal and the revised timelines will be intimated shortly,” DMG said.
A senior officer said that December 13 has been fixed as the date to announce the name of the successful bidder, but there will be changes in some dates related to the last date for sale of tender documents, bid due date and opening of technical bids, among others.
The companies have raised queries on acquiring of private land outside and inside leases, pending litigations, and the auctioning of leases as virgin mines, among others.
Over 24 mining companies have shown interest in participating in the e-auction. Major steel and iron ore mining companies from outside Goa have shown interest in operating mines in the state.
The state government had put up four mining blocks for auction, including three in North Goa at Bicholim, Sirigao-Mayem and Monte de Sirigao, and one in South Goa at Kalay. This is for the first time that the state government is auctioning mining leases to carry out mining activities. It has taken SBI Cap on board to conduct the auction process.
The four mineral blocks were operational before mining came to a halt. Most of these leases cover vast areas. Hitherto, the mines in Sirigao and Mayem were operated by Chowgules, in Sirigao by Rajaram Bandekar (Sirigao) Mines Pvt Ltd and in Bicholim by Vedanta Ltd. As per the directorate of mines and geology records, the lease for the Kalay mine was earlier in the name of N S Narvekar.
The total concession area of the Sirigao-Mayem block is over 171 hectare, Kalay over 179 hectare, Bicholim over 478 hectare and Monte de Sirigao over 95 hectares.
Mining in Goa came to a halt in March 2018 following the decision of the Supreme Court to quash the second renewal of 88 leases.