Ranchi, Aug. 19: Pahardia gold mines are likely to come under the hammer soon with the state government re-inviting bids to encash 1.162 million tonnes of reserves lying under the ground in West Singhbhum's Anandpur block.

Officials at the mines directorate said MSTC (an e-commerce company), on behalf of the government, had set the ball rolling for e-auction of the mines - spread over 273 hectares and comprising Pahardia, Rungikocha and Tentadih villages. Consultant major Mecon will act as the transaction adviser for the process till a suitable bidder is finalised.

"Prospective players have 15 days (from today) to respond," in-charge director (mines) S.I. Minj told The Telegraph.

The tender form will be available on the MSTC website till September 3. The last date for submitting technical bids is October 4 and the tender will be opened on October 5.

The successful bidder/s will be granted a composite licence (for prospecting-cum-mining). However, before starting work, the selected firm will have to obtain forest, environmental and other statutory clearances.

After Pahardia, the government is expected to start the e-auction process for another gold mine, Parasi, in Tamar area of Ranchi district.

The first gold mines to be e-auctioned in the state, Pahardia mining block is situated around 20km from the nearest rail station at Manoharpur, 125km from the nearest airport in Jamshedpur and around 197km from capital Ranchi.

Earlier, Pahardia mines were explored by Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd and Geological Survey of India to find out the reserves of yellow mental in the region.

In last December, the state government had tried to auction gold mines at Pahardia, drawing initial response from mining giant Vedanta, Rungta etc. But even after evincing interest, the firms did not participate in the e-auctioning, forcing the government to put the process on hold.

The officials at the mines directorate said they were hopeful of a positive outcome this time. "With the Raghubar Das government trying to attract investments in various sectors, including mineral-based industries, e-auctioning the gold mines successfully would be a big achievement for the state," said a senior official.

So far, the government has been able to e-auction two limestone blocks in Ramgarh district to a cement company operating in the state.