7 big steel producers bid for iron ore block

Bhubaneswar: Seven major steel promoters, including a central PSU, have taken part in the e-auction for allocation of the Ghorhaburhani-Sagasahi iron ore block.
The ore block, with a total reserve of about 100 million tonnes, is located in the Koida mining sector in Sundargarh district. The block has been reserved for integrated steel plant as end use.
According to sources, Essar Steel, JSW Steel Ltd, Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), Bhushan Steel Limited, Bhushan Power and Steel Limited, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and Tata Steel participated in the bidding process.
However, no bidders applied for Garamurra limestone block in Nuapada district, the notification for which was issued on January 5. A fresh notification will be issued, sources said.
The block is at the G2 exploration stage, which means the successful bidder will get a mining lease (ML) of the block directly. It spreads over an area of over 139.16 hectares, including 20.88 hectares of forest land, 110.69 hectares of government land and 7.58 hectares of private land.
"We have received good response from the bidders as compared to other mineral bearing states. The process for technical evaluation has started and names of qualified bidders will be announced on February 25," said a senior officer in the steel and mines department.
The e-auctioning process was notified on December 23 last year and the last date for submission was on February 10.
According to the notification, the bidders submit technical bid and initial price offer in the first round of e-auction. The highest initial price offered by the technically qualified bidders will be the floor price for the second round of online auctions.
In the subsequent round of e-auctions, the qualified bidders will submit their final price offers. The e-auction process will be cancelled if none of the qualified bidders submits the final price offers. The state government will issue a letter of intent to the successful bidders by March 28.
MSTC, a central PSU, has been conducting the e-auction process while SBICAP, a subsidiary of State Bank of India, has been engaged as the transaction advisor for the bidding.
Except RINL, all six bidders have steel plants in the state. According to sources, the RINL is also in touch with the state government for establishment of a steel plant in mineral rich Keonjhar district.