TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Those involved in illegal mining in Goa will not be allowed to bid for e-auction of extracted iron ore stocked at various places in the State, Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) has claimed while announcing that the e-auction of 15 million metric tons of ore would commence in the first week of February.
“The applicant should give a declaration at the time of bidding that they are directly or indirectly not involved in any illegal mining in Goa and if the same is found to be false, the department may disqualify the applicant from e-auction and forfeit the advance money deposited with the government,” the notification issued by director of Mines Prasanna Acharya reads.
The applications are sought online and only those bidders registered under Rule 45 of MCDR, 1988 are eligible to participate at the auction. The bidder would be given training and information for participating in e-auction through Metal and Scrap Trading Corporation (MSTC), the service provider for conducting the auction. The training would be imparted in the last week of January.
The bidders have to also deposit advance money in the bank to participate in the auction as follows –bidder bidding for upto 10,000 metric tons will have to deposit Rs 2.5 crore, those bidding for upto 20,000 metric tons will have to deposit Rs 5 crore for, and those bidding for upto 50,000 metric tons will pay Rs 7.5 crore and for bidding above 50,000 metric tons bidder will have to pay Rs 10 crore. Along with the deposit, the bidder will also have to deposit one percent non-refundable amount of processing fee.
Number of bids allowed for different categories are as under: (a) EMD deposit of Rs 2.5 crore– one bid and limited to maximum 10000 MT; (b) EMD deposit of Rs 5 crore – two bids upto maximum 20000 tonnes; (c) EMD deposit of Rs 7.5 crore – three bids upto maximum 50,000 tonnes; (d) EMD deposit of Rs 10.00 crore– No limits on the number bids & any quantity permissible.
The bidder (from a to c above) shall be eligible for fresh bidding only on full payment of successful bid amount on completed auction proceedings. “The prospective bidder on deposit of EMD shall be given User ID and password by the department for participating in e-auction,” Acharya said. Department has the power to disqualify any bidder at any stage of auction without giving any reasons.
