The Lieutenant Governor directed the directorate to advertise the details of e-auction of minor mineral blocks in largely circulated newspapers to notify the potential bidders about the date, sites centres, blocks to be auctioned

Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu directed the Directorate of Geology and Mining to come up with a comprehensive report on mineral reserves of Jammu and Kashmir.
Murmu, according to an official spokesperson, sought “a detailed report on available mineral reserves identified in J&K. He observed that J&K is enriched with minerals like limestone, gypsum, marble, bauxite and stressed on the importance to explore the same.”

The Lieutenant Governor also directed the directorate to advertise the details of e-auction of minor mineral blocks in largely circulated newspapers to notify the potential bidders about the date, sites centres, blocks to be auctioned and other important related details.

The Lt. Governor passed these directions during a meeting he chaired to review the functioning of Geology and Mining department at the Civil Secretariat, the spokesperson said in a statement.

During the meeting, the Lt. Governor took a comprehensive review of the District-wise auction of minor mineral blocks across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It was informed that notification for e-auctioning of 37 minor mineral blocks has been issued, on which, the Lt. Governor directed the officers to notify the details of e-auction in widely circulated newspapers with separate advertisements for different districts.

Stressing on valid allotment of mining blocks, the Lt. Governor observed that there should be precision in the rules regarding ceiling with clarity on the related entity in the rules during the allotment process. The chair was informed that there is a ceiling of 500 that has been put in place for one party during the allotment of mining blocks.


The Lt. Governor also sought a detailed report on available mineral reserves identified in J&K. He observed that J&K is enriched with minerals like limestone, gypsum, marble, bauxite and stressed on the importance to explore the same.

The meeting also had detailed deliberations on the regularization of mineral mining, High Court directions on minor mineral mining, environment and pollution clearance, ‘NGT guidelines and directions, etc.

The Lt. Governor emphasized on curbing illegal mining and bringing transparency in the system. He directed the officers to devise an effective mechanism to monitor the extraction of minerals by the allotted and establish hi-tech mineral check posts near the extraction sites for regular checks.

The Lt. Governor also passed necessary directions to protect the precious mineral like Sapphire from illegal extraction.

Director, Geology and Mining gave a detailed briefing on minerals identified in J&K, rules governing major and minor minerals, formation of minor mineral blocks in all the districts of J&K, e-auctioning, environmental clearances, and initiatives taken against illegal mining.

(Courtesy: BK news service)

BK News Service