India Launches Second Round Of Bidding For Key Mineral Blocks.

According to Mining.com, citing Reuters, India's mining minister Pralhad Joshi revealed on Thursday that a second round of auctions of key mineral blocks worth 30 trillion rupees (about $362 billion) would be launched.
The government announced that 18 key mineral blocks, including tungsten, vanadium, cobalt and nickel, would be auctioned in the states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
Of these, 17 blocks have multiple licenses and one is a mining license. The comprehensive license covers exploration and development.
Joshi added that five states - Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan - will each auction key mineral exploration blocks.
In addition, he revealed that the government's first round of auctions, launched in November last year, received 56 applications from institutions, They include Vedanta Ltd, Coal India, Shree Cement, Ola Electric, Dalmia group and Jindal Power.
The first second round of auctions will take place in mid-March, with winning bidders to be announced in mid-April.
Joshi added that there would be no more coal shortages in India this year.
Mr Joshi's comments come a week after Coal India announced it would cut its FY2025 coal production target due to sufficient stocks.