Karnataka   

State earns Rs. 3 crore in auction of confiscated ore

Chitradurga: The State has earned Rs. 3.27 crore after auctioning 49,540 tonnes of illegally-mined ore, confiscated from various parts of Chitradurga district.

As many as 198 bidders participated in the auction, which was held till Thursday, at the office of the Mines and Geology Department here.

The department had expected to earn around Rs. 2 crore from the auction, but the process exceeded all expectations.

The ore was recovered from 12 places in the district, which had either been stored on government land, or extracted without legitimate approval.

According to the department, this year, it had held three auctions, in which Rs. 1.5 crore was realised by auctioning around 35,000 tonnes of illegally-mined ore.

“The present auction was the largest among all, which fetched more revenue to the Government compared to the last three,” an official said.

The present auction was cancelled about a week ago, following objections raised by the bidders over certain conditions put forth by the department.

The official said that this time too, it refused to make any changes in the stipulations.

“Since we made it clear that no changes were possible in the conditions laid down by the Government, the bidders had no choice but to comply,” he said.

Of 198 bidders, nine had bought the ore in various capacities. While 10,500 tonnes of ore recovered from Shivaganga village of Holalkere were disposed off for Rs. 51.02 lakh, the ore from Doddakittadalli village was purchased for Rs. 64.10 lakh.

The rest was sold for prices varying between Rs. 20 lakh and Rs. 50 lakh, according to official figures.

The official said that although illegal mining was taking place in most parts of the district, in taluks such as Holalkere, Hosadurga and Chitradurga, it was quite rampant.

He said that during raids conducted this year, 68 cases had been had been booked for unauthorised transportation of ore, 130 cases filed on land, while First Information Reports (FIRs) had been filed against 14 persons.

The department had also imposed fines of Rs. 48 lakh on miners involved in the illegal transportation of ore.

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