Pre-bid meet for five mining blocks draws 16 cos, drop from 24 earlier

Panaji: Sixteen companies participated in Tuesday’s pre-bid meeting for the e-auction of five mining blocks, a drop from the 24 that participated in the earlier meeting ahead of the e-auction of five blocks.
The fall in participation was surprising as the government expected more companies after the export duty on low-grade iron ore was restored to zero from 50%. At the time of the first auction, the earlier duty prevailed.
A senior official said that the the number of companies participating in the actual auction may be more than the number that participated in the pre-bid meeting. He said that most of the companies had also participated in the first auction.
The current meeting concerns the five blocks in North Goa the government recently put up for auction. These are in Advalpale-Tivim, Cudnem-Cormolem, Cudnem, Tivim-Pirna, and Surla-Sonshi.
The last date for purchase of the tender document is March 17, and the last date for submission of the bid March 27. The reserve price for bidding will be 15-25% of the average price as decided by the Indian Bureau of Mines. A senior official said that the environmental clearance (EC) has been extended to three mining blocks.
He also said that the government has expedited the process to auction more mining leases. The state had set a deadline of March 31 to auction all 88 mining leases, but that may not happen as there’s just a month to do, a mining company representative said.
TOI reported on Monday that the government has also started the process to take over more than 100 leases (apart from the 88), so that they could be put up for auction.