Vedanta Group bags four critical mineral blocks, OIL one

Vedanta Group has won four blocks while state-owned Oil India Ltd (OIL) bagged one in the fourth round of critical mineral blocks auction, the government said on Thursday.

While Vedanta bagged vanadium and graphite mine in Arunachal Pradesh, cobalt, manganese and iron (poly-metal) mine in Karnataka, Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) -- a subsidiary of Vedanta -- won tungsten and associated minerals block in Andhra Pradesh and a tungsten mine in Tamil Nadu.

Oil India Ltd has bagged graphite and vanadium block in Arunachal Pradesh, the government said.

Vedanta Ltd had earlier bagged two critical mineral blocks in Karnataka and Bihar in the second and third auction rounds.

Mamco Mining Pvt Ltd and Orissa Metaliks Pvt Ltd are the other two companies that have bagged blocks in this round of auction.

"The Ministry of Mines has successfully concluded the auction of eight critical mineral blocks, launched under tranche IV of the auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks," an official statement said.

Following the issuance of the Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) for 21 mineral blocks on June 24, the auction attracted strong interest from industry stakeholders.

"After the evaluation of technical bids, 10 mineral blocks advanced to the second round of e-auction, which included three first attempt blocks and seven second attempt blocks," the mines ministry said.

These blocks contain deposits of strategic minerals such as phosphorite, graphite, and vanadium, essential for high-tech and green energy applications.

Auction process for the eight blocks have successfully concluded and for the remaining two blocks the process will be completed by December 2.

With the auction of these critical mineral blocks, the total number of successfully auctioned critical and strategic mineral blocks has reached 22.

The fourth round of auction has marked a beginning for the Northeast into India's mineral auction landscape, with four maiden blocks successfully auctioned.

Significantly, this tranche features the first successful auction of a tungsten block and two cobalt blocks.

These strategic minerals are essential for high-tech, defence, and energy storage applications, and will contribute towards reducing import dependency.