Government started preparations for e-auction of seven important mineral blocks
New Delhi (Uttam Hindu News): The Ministry of Mines has started preparations for e-auction of seven important mineral blocks. The last date for sale of tender documents for bidding has been fixed as May 16 and the last date for submission of documents has been fixed as May 21. The ministry has clarified that these seven blocks are part of the 11 blocks whose auction was canceled earlier.
Apart from this, e-auction process under tranche 2 for 18 blocks is also going on. The last date of sale of tender document is May 10, 2024 and the last date of bid submission is May 15. The ministry also said that the second round of e-auction for six blocks has been completed as per schedule. The decision on Kundol Nickel and Chromium Block of Gujarat will be taken by the designated officer in due course.
Critical minerals such as lithium, chromium, nickel, graphite, cobalt, titanium and rare earth elements (REEs) are essential for India’s economic growth and national security. Currently, the production of these minerals is dominated by a few countries like China.
Critical minerals meet the needs of sectors like electronics, electric vehicles, renewable energy, defence, high-tech telecommunications, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and construction of gigafactories. At present the demand for these minerals in the country is mainly met by imports.
The future economy of the world will be based on technologies that depend on these critical minerals. India is committed to achieving 50 percent electricity generation capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030. The demand for these critical minerals will increase given the demand for electric cars, wind and solar energy projects and battery storage systems.
