NEW DELHI: The central government is introducing a quarterly review system to speed up the operationalization of auctioned mines. Despite auctioning over 440 mines, only 56 have been made operational since the auction regime began in 2015, with just 18 of these being greenfield projects.
States with mining activities will be categorized based on their challenges, work progress, and required interventions. A committee comprising officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, cabinet secretary, and mines ministry will hold monthly meetings with these states to address their specific challenges.
This fiscal year, the mines ministry aims to auction 115 mineral blocks, having already auctioned 88. This is an increase from the 95 mines auctioned in 2023-24. Rajasthan has auctioned the most blocks (87) but only has three operational mines. Madhya Pradesh follows with 82 mines auctioned and three operational. Odisha boasts the best ratio, with 48 mines auctioned and 26 operational, followed by Karnataka with 45 auctioned and 13 operational mines.
“A focused three-month roadmap will be developed for each group to ensure targeted and measurable progress,” an official stated. Monthly reports will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office to monitor progress and resolve bottlenecks.
A ministry analysis revealed that 38% of non-working mines are stalled due to delays in environmental and forest clearances. Studies will assess the suitability of 1,789 non-working mines for re-auction.
Additionally, the Centre is looking to expand India’s presence in the critical mineral value chain. Work is underway to establish a National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) running until 2030-31, which will oversee 1,200 exploration projects and auction over 100 blocks of critical mineral resources. The mission will also support critical mineral processing parks, overseas asset acquisitions, and recycling incentives.
