SHWETA KAMAT
PANJIM: E-auction for sale of iron ore in Goa, as mandated by Supreme Court, could set the trend for sale of ore across the country, with the Union Mines Ministry now considering adoption of e-auction of extracted minerals for all the mineral rich States of India.
This is, basically, being mooted to overcome the under reporting of sale price of minerals after the Supreme Court directed the e-auction of extracted iron ore in case of Karnataka and Goa.
This proposal was tabled before the Ministry’s Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (CEC) on Mineral Development and Regulation. The Ministry has said that it is of the view that e-auction of extracted minerals has the advantages of transparency, optimum price-discovery and realization of correct royalty to the States.
“Since the Supreme Court in its judgment ~ on mining of iron ore in Karnataka and Goa ~ observed that extracted iron ore can be sold through e–auction, the same could be deliberated for adoption in other mineral rich States,” the Ministry said in a communication to all iron ore mining States in India.
The Ministry has also asked CEC to identify the process for establishing e-auction procedure for sale of the extracted minerals.
Gujarat in the CEC meeting held in September 2013 had raised the issue of under-reporting of sale price of iron ore resulting in loss of royalty to States. The Indian Bureau of Mines was of the opinion that respective States should closely cross-check the invoices submitted by the lessees to ensure that prices are not undervalued. However, the Ministry is of the opinion that the issue needs proper mechanism and monitoring like e-auction.
While in case of Karnataka, the apex court-appointed monitoring committee headed by Dr UV Singh suggested that e-auctioned ore should not be allowed for export but rather be utilized for domestic consumption, in case of Goa too an order has been passed on export matter.
