Mines Ministry to launch seventh tranche of critical, strategic mineral auctions on March 23

The Union Ministry of Mines would be launching the seventh tranche of auction of critical and strategic mineral blocks on Monday (March 23, 2026), it informed. The latest tranche would offer 19 blocks across several states under both mining lease and composite licenses.

About the composition of the blocks, the Ministry stated, “These blocks comprise a diverse basket of minerals essential for sectors such as clean energy, advanced technologies, fertilizers and strategic industries.”

The auctions would follow a two-stage ascending auction process, wherein the highest bidder would be chosen based on the “highest percentage of value of mineral dispatched quoted”.

As on date, the Mines Ministry has successfully auctioned off 46 critical and strategic minerals across the six tranches of auctions.