PANAJI
A day after the Supreme Court rejected Vedanta’s appeal, the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG) on Tuesday announced to resume the e-auction process of Curpem-Sulcorna mineral block XI, located in South Goa. The auction will take place on February 14.
“The ascending forward e-auction for Curpem & Sulcorna Mineral Block-XI which was interrupted on November 14, 2024 will resume as per the schedule that is February 14,” DMG said in the notice issued.
The department said that the auction will resume from the last quoted price, which stands at 84.50 per cent.
The Apex Court on Monday upheld the Bombay High Court’s February 4 ruling that permitted the DMG to proceed with fresh bidding for the disputed mineral block. The apex court mentioned that it was not a “fit case for interference”, considering the High Court’s findings.
Vedanta Limited had initially emerged as the highest bidder in the e-auction concluded on November 14, last year. The company had challenged the DMG’s decision to resume the auction process after another bidder, Agravanshi, claimed to have faced a ‘server error’ during the final bidding period.
Vedanta had contended that the alleged technical glitch was specific to Agravanshi and should not have affected the auction’s finality. They further argued that MSTC, the government’s e-auction platform, had explicitly dismissed Agravanshi’s claims of a technical failure.
The Curpem-Sulcorna mineral block is spread at an area of 87.64 ha of which the mineralised area is 14.00 ha while 73.63 ha is non mineralised. The mine, having an estimated 9.79 million metric tons of iron ore reserve, was earlier owned by M/s Sesa Resources Limited. The block also has 1,56,728 metric tons of ore in the form of dumps.
