India amends mineral auction rules on qualified bidders for Part D minerals
- Part D auctions: two to five technically qualified bidders all qualify
- Part D first attempt annulled below two technically qualified bidders, rules say
- Rule 19E wording changed from "three" to "two" in three places
Photo: Wikimedia Commons - Tracy Houston Durrant, CC BY 4.0What changed The rules replace the word "three" with the word "two" in the first proviso to sub-rule (9) and in sub-rules (10) and (11) of rule 19E of the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015.
NEW DELHI, Oct 16 — India's Ministry of Mines notified the Mineral (Auction) Third Amendment Rules, 2026, on Oct 16, changing how bidders are qualified in auctions of minerals specified in Part D of the First Schedule to the Act.
Under the amendment, if an auction of a Part D mineral has between two and five technically qualified bidders, all of them will be considered qualified bidders, according to notification G.S.R. 898(E).
If an auction of a Part D mineral has two or more technically qualified bidders in total, it will move to the second round of auction, the notification said.
If there are fewer than two technically qualified bidders, none of them will be considered a qualified bidder and the first attempt of the auction will be annulled, according to the rules.
The amendment also replaces the word "three" with "two" in the first proviso to sub-rule (9) and in sub-rules (10) and (11) of rule 19E of the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015.
The central government made the rules under section 13 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. Joint Secretary Kulveer Singh Yadav signed the notification. The rules take effect on the date they are published in the Official Gazette.
The original rules were published on May 20, 2015. According to the notification, they have been amended 14 times since then, most recently by G.S.R. 223(E), dated March 30, 2026.