Gati Shakti to help speed up auction of critical minerals

States allowed to access their own records or data from PM Gati Shakti to demarcate zones

- Subhash Narayan

The central government has expedited the auctioning of vital minerals like lithium to the private sector by authorizing states to use their own records as well as the online resources of PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan for demarcating mining areas.

Around 90 mining blocks, comprising minerals such as lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, titanium, phosphorus, gold and silver, are set to be auctioned by the Centre by the end of the year.

The revised land demarcation and classification rules are also expected to streamline the identification of well-defined mining zones, which will further facilitate the auction process.

“Through the amendment made on 1 September 2023, in the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015, it is provided that where details of the land is available on the PM Gati Shakti-National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity platform or land record portal of state governments or other government authority, the state government may use such details for classification of land," a mines ministry spokesperson said in a reply to Mint’s queries.

“It will help in expediting the process of land demarcation and classification, and preparing blocks for auctions faster, as searching offline records takes considerable time."