E-auctioning was halted due to falling international prices of ore.
The Mines Directorate had identified 15 million tons of ore for e-auction, of which till now only five million tons has been auctioned, fetching revenue of Rs 800 crore. Nearly 8 lakh tons of ore has also been exported to China, the largest global market for the State’s low-grade ore.
The department has now decided to go ahead with the e-auction of the balance 10 million tons of ore from the coming week. The Mines Directorate is expecting revenue of around Rs 600 to 700 crore from the e-auction process.
“As the international prices are falling drastically, we are not expecting very good price for the low-grade ore,” a senior mines official declared, adding, “we cannot wait for the market prices to stabilize as the existing ore has to be e-auctioned before fresh production begins.”
The first three e-auctions, held on February 17, March 4 and May 12, last year, had received good response and over 15 companies had participated.
