By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, December 24, 2015 : Odisha Government on Wednesday issued notification inviting tender for first ever e-auction of iron ore mines under the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 2015.

The auction process initiated virtually brings an end to hereditary ownership of mines in the state.

The Government will auction Ghoraburahani-Sagasahi East iron ore mines in Koira circle of Sundargarh district with a reserve of around 100 million tons. The iron ore block is being offered in the form of a composite licence- prospecting licence (PL)-cum-mining licence (ML).

Sale of the tender documents also started from Wednesday. “The willing bidders will be asked to submit their queries, if any, by January 15 and a pre-bid conference will be held on January 20 in which transaction adviser, Principal Secretary of Steel and Mines department will remain present and clarify their doubts,” Director of Mines Deepak Mohanty told reporters.

Modification in tender documents, if any, will be done by February 2 and February 5 is the last date for sale of tender papers, he said.

The bidding report would be submitted to the Directorate of Mines by February 10.

While financial bids are invited in digital format only, technical bids are invited both in digital and physical format from eligible bidders.

“We will take another 10 days for the technical evaluation of the bidding report and auction process will be finished by March 20,” Mohanty said.