The government will launch the first round of auction of critical and strategic minerals on Wednesday putting 20 blocks under the hammer.

Twenty blocks of critical and strategic minerals being put on sale are spread across the country, an official statement said, adding that the minerals are important for economic development and national security.

The auction will take place online via a two-stage ascending forward auction process. The sale of the tender document will begin from Wednesday, the mines ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Details of the mineral blocks, auction terms, timelines etc. can be accessed on the MSTC auction platform,” the statement said.

“The lack of availability of the critical minerals or concentration of their extraction or processing in a few countries may lead to supply chain vulnerabilities.

“The future global economy will be underpinned by technologies that depend on minerals such as lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium and rare earth elements (REE),” the ministry said.

Recently, through an amendment in the MMDR Act on August 17, 2023, 24 minerals were notified as critical and strategic.

The amendment in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act confers the power to grant the concessions of these minerals to the central Government. The revenue from the auctions shall go to state governments.

The eligible bidder at the auctions shall be selected based on the highest percentage of the value of mineral despatched/ quoted by them.