According to an official, the Bihar government will hire SBI Capital Markets to create a report for the sale of glauconite and iron ore reserves worth Rs 20,000 crore in the districts of Rohtas and Jamui.
The government held a meeting with several stakeholders recently to initiate the auction process, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Mines Commissioner Harjot Kaur Bamhrah said.
According to Bamhrah, the state government will soon issue an order appointing SBI Capital Markets as the transaction advisor and asking them to recommend the terms and conditions on which the auctions should be held.
The state government has asked SBI CAPS, the investment bank and project advisor, to submit a detailed report, she said.
The state government will start the process of approving permission to allow lease-based mining of glauconite and iron ore reserves worth Rs 20,000 crore in Rohtas and Jamui districts after the report is presented, according to the mines commissioner.
Glauconite, a common source of potassium in fertilisers, is useful in increasing soil fertility, while iron ore is the essential raw material for making steel.
Earlier, there was a perception that Bihar lost its mineral wealth following the creation of Jharkhand in 2000, she said. "In fact, Bihar has sufficient mineral resources to boost its economy," Bamhrah said.
The Bihar government has started a procedure to authorise mining activities for the state's mineral deposits for the first time since the establishment of Jharkhand. Additionally, the state government has chosen to revise its industrial promotion strategy by inserting clauses that will stimulate private investment in the mining industry, she said.