India: Govt announces 6th tranche of critical, strategic mineral auctions

• Blocks on offer include 4 mining leases, 19 composite licences
  
  
• Ministry declares preferred bidders for 1st tranche of auctions
  
  

The Ministry of Mines has announced the sixth tranche of auctions for critical and strategic minerals. The list was unveiled by Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, on 16 September 2025 in Hyderabad.

This tranche includes 4 blocks offered as mining leases and 19 as composite licences. At the same event, the ministry also declared the preferred bidders for seven deep-seated and critical mineral blocks auctioned under the first tranche of exploration licences.

This regime was introduced through the 2023 amendment of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. The auctions have so far been met with a lukewarm response. Of the 13 exploration licences offered in the first round on 13 March 2025, only seven were successfully auctioned. These cover minerals such as gold, copper, lead, zinc, rare earth elements, and platinum group minerals across six states - Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.

According to the government's own press release, 55 critical and strategic mineral blocks have been offered via competitive bidding across five tranches, but only 34 have been successfully auctioned.