Thirty-six mining blocks up for grab

As many as 36 mineral blocks are currently at various stages of auction process, minister of state for mines and coal, Haribhai Parthibhai said in a statement, in addition to this, starting from 2015-16 to date, 34 mineral blocks have already gone under the hammer.

Of these, 13 were auctioned in the ongoing fiscall, 15 mines were bid out in the last fiscal and six blocks in 2015-16. The mineral auction rules have been amended by the mines ministry to make the auction process simpler and to help the states auction mineral blocks quickly. The major amendments in the rules include providing more flexibility to state governments in the auction process, relaxation in net worth requirement for increased participation of bidders and adjustment of upfront payment in full at the earliest as against the revenue share mode, he added.