Team Herald
PANJIM: A total of 7.76 million tonnes of stacked iron ore will be up for e-auction in the 15th and the final phase of e-auction, undertaken as per Supreme Court directives. The date for the final phase is yet to be announced.
The Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) had identified 15 million tonnes of ore, stacked at jetties, lease sites, ports, for e-auction, of which 7.24 million tonnes have been auctioned till date, bringing in revenue of over Rs 910 crore.
DMG in an order issued on Monday listed the entire remaining stock of 7.76 million tonnes for e-auction, which is expected to be held in another 12 days. The last e-auction was held on December 24, last year.
The grade of the ore ranges between 62 Fe content to as low as 38 Fe content and is stacked at 379 lots. The e-auction process that started in February 2014 drew a poor response from bidders as a result of falling international prices of low grade ore coupled with 10 per cent export duty.
In the last two years, DMG managed to e-auction only 7.24 million tonnes of ore, of which more than 50 per cent continued to remain at the sites. Hardly three million tonnes of ore has been either exported to China or transported for local consumption in States like Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.
The e-auction is undertaken under supervision of the Apex Court appointed Committee headed by Dr U V Singh. As per SC directives, DMG has to reimburse extraction cost incurred by the mining companies and traders, whose ore was e-auctioned.
The government has to also contribute 10 per cent of the amount it earns to the Goa Iron ore Permanent Fund.
