New Delhi, February 11 The government will launch the second round of exploration license auction on Thursday, marking a key milestone in the country's mineral exploration reforms aimed at ensuring long-term security for critical and deep-seated minerals.
The launch event will be held in the presence of Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy, along with senior officials of the mines ministry, state government representatives, industry stakeholders, and others.
On this occasion, the mines ministry will also unveil the next-generation digital portal of the Geological Survey of India (GSI), integrating data acquisition, analysis, visualization, and dissemination on a single cloud-enabled platform.
Equipped with AI/ML-based tools and interoperability with the National Geoscience Data Repository (NGDR), the portal is expected to enhance transparency, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making in mineral exploration, the mines ministry said in a statement.
The event will feature a roadshow for stakeholders on the exploration license (EL) framework, auction methodology and incentives, including presentations on the e-auction process via the MSTC portal, auction rules, and the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) scheme for partial reimbursement of exploration expenditure.
The second round of exploration license auctions builds upon the successful rollout of the first tranche. The first tranche, comprising 13 exploration license blocks covering critical minerals such as Rare Earth Elements (REE), Zinc, Diamond, Copper, and Platinum Group Elements (PGE), was launched in March last year.