The government of Odisha is likely to auction the Sukinda chromite mine and another working Guali iron ore mine that were being reserved for the state-owned Odisha Mineral Exploration Corporation (OMECL).
A notification to de-reserve is to be issued very soon and the blocks could be advertised in coming days. Odisha government had kicked off the auctions of working mines by first putting two non-captive chromite blocks under the hammer -- Kamarda deposit being mined by BC Mohanty and Saruabil mine by Misrilall Mines. Both were bagged by a Tata Steel subsidiary at steep bids of 96.8 percent and 88.5 percent respectively.
Choosing to reserve for OMECL, Tata Steel’s Sukinda chromite mine and RP Sao’s iron ore mine, the state government had already written to the Centre for approval.
Set up initially as a subsidiary of Orissa Mining Corporation, OMECL had been reconstituted to be an independent agency that could also undertake mining. It had even gone ahead and advertised inviting mine operators to run the two blocks.