Tungsten block: Centre tells Tamil Nadu to keep Letter of Intent to Hindustan Zinc on hold

The Union Ministry of Mines on Tuesday requested the Geological Survey of India to re-examine the Nayakkarpatti tungsten block in Madurai, which comprises six villages, including Arittapatti, a notified biodiversity heritage site famous for archaeological monuments. It also suggested that the GSI explore the possibility of redefining the boundaries by excluding the biodiversity heritage site from the block, and requested the Tamil Nadu government to keep the process of issuing the Letter of Intent to the preferred bidder – Hindustan Zinc Limited – on hold for the time being. “When the block was initially put up for auction in February 2024, till the auction result was declared on November 7, 2024, there was no communication from the State government regarding any opposition or concerns about the auction despite the fact that Tamil Nadu attended several auction-related meetings of the Ministry of Mines,” an official press release said. Based on the amendment, the Ministry of Mines wrote to the Tamil Nadu government in September 2023 about the auction of critical mineral blocks in the State, including the Nayakkarpatti tungsten block. However, in response, the Water Resources Minister of Tamil Nadu questioned the amendment Act passed by Parliament, and demanded that the power to auction the critical minerals also be vested with State governments.