Govt Cancels 4th Round Auction of Critical Mineral Blocks Due to Poor Response

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Govt Cancels 4th Round Auction

The Government of India has canceled the fourth round auction for mining blocks containing critical minerals, citing poor response from bidders.

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Poor Response from Bidders

Only a few technically qualified bidders showed interest, leading to the cancellation of 11 critical mineral blocks.

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Four Blocks with No Bidders

The four mineral blocks containing tungsten and glauconite located in Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh received no response.

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Importance of Critical Minerals

Critical minerals such as Beryllium, Cobalt, Lithium, and Tungsten are vital for clean energy technologies, including electric vehicles and wind turbines.

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Previous Auction Failures

The government has faced similar issues in previous rounds, cancelling multiple mineral block auctions due to poor response.

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Auction Results So Far

Out of 48 blocks of critical and strategic minerals, only 24 were successfully auctioned, with most being composite licenses.

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Critical Mineral Mission for 2024

The government will launch a Critical Mineral Mission in the new year to secure vital resources for green energy and technology.

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Focus on Collaboration & Research

The new mission will focus on government-industry collaboration, including acquiring overseas assets like lithium and cobalt.

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Boosting Domestic Mining

The mission also aims to boost domestic mining of critical minerals to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies.

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Growing Demand for Clean Energy Minerals

According to World Bank estimates, global production of minerals like lithium and cobalt must increase by 500% by 2050 to meet demand.

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Source image: commons.wikimedia.org - BY SA