e-auction: 16 of 51 mines get bidders

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 19

Only 16 of the 51 sand quarries found successful bidders during the e-auction held today. The Gajju Jagir quarry in Pathankot fetched a bid of over Rs 24 crore. The remaining quarries got bids just above the minimum reserve price fixed by the Department of Mining. Sources in the department said they had received bids worth over Rs 46.62 crore. The total reserve price for these quarries was Rs 9.62 crore.

The auction was held today for 13 mines in Ferozepur district, eight in Ludhiana, six in Nawanshahr, five in Mohali, three each in Jalandhar and Pathankot, two each in Gurdaspur, Ropar, Amritsar, Moga and Hoshiarpur, and one each in Fazilka and Tarn Taran.

Speculation is rife that the bidder for the Gajju Jagir quarry may not deposit the earnest money and instalment by February 22, the last day prescribed in the auction notice. Though officials claimed they had no clue about this bidder, sources said the party concerned had a quarry nearby and had made the hefty bid only to “protect his territory”.

“He did not want any other bidder to take the quarry, and thus flooding the market with sand and gravel, which would further reduce the prices of these minor minerals,” a source in the mining trade told The Tribune, adding that the annual extractable quantity of Gajju Jagir was just 11,000 tonnes.