New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS): As many as 106 mineral blocks have been auctioned since April 2021, compared to 108 blocks auctioned in six years from 2015 to 2021, sources said.

According to Mines Ministry sources, the three times annual increase in the number of auctioned mineral blocks in the past 18 months is mainly due to the amendments carried out in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act of 1957.

The government last year had amended the aforementioned law through the MMDR Amendment Act, 2021, with the objective of increasing mineral production and time bound operationalisation of mines, increasing employment and investment in the mining sector, maintaining continuity in mining operations after change of lessee and increasing the pace of exploration and auction of mineral resources.

Subsequently, sources said that the auctioned blocks, which have been operationalised have resulted in increase in revenues of mineral-rich states like Odisha, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Although, the number of 36 working auctioned mines is much less compared to 405 working non-auctioned mines, the premium collection from auctioned mines is surpassing the royalty collection from all the working mines, sources said.

For 2021-22, total auction premium from the auctioned mines was Rs 21,148.04 crore in three states of Odisha, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh as compared to Rs 21,267.64 crore from royalty of all the working mines.

The same trend could be seen for the current financial year also, they informed.