Centre cancels auction of tungsten mining block in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Bowing to wide-spread protests by villagers and pressure from the DMK dispensation and from its Tamil Nadu unit, the BJP-led Union Government on Thursday announced that it has “annulled” the auction of Nayakkarpatti Tungsten mineral block in Madurai district which included the Arittapatti Biodiversity Heritage Site. 

The decision is a major blow to conglomerate Vedanta of Anil Agarwal whose subsidiary, Hindustan Zinc Limited, emerged as the winner of the auction. Vedanta group is highly unpopular in Tamil Nadu after police firing at protesters agitating against the expansion of its company Sterlite Copper in 2018 led to the death of 13 civilians. 

In a statement, Union Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said traditional community heads from villages in Madurai district met him on Wednesday and sought cancellation of the auction of the Nayakkarpatti Tungsten block. 

“…it has been decided to annul the auction of Nayakkarpatti Tungsten mineral block,” Reddy, who met several delegations facilitated by the state BJP in the past few weeks, said. The ministry had on December 24 excluded the biodiversity site from the auction but a massive protest by the villagers earlier this month brought a change of heart in the Centre. 

The decision also comes a month after the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution against the auction and demanded that the Union Government consult states before putting mining blocks on auction. 

Chief Minister M K Stalin had told the Assembly in December 2024 that he would not remain in his post if the tungsten project became a reality, giving an emotional touch. 

Initially supportive of the project, Tamil Nadu BJP and its chief K Annamalai converted over a period of two weeks and jumped on the anti-tungsten bandwagon. In fact, Annamalai travelled to Madurai to meet the villagers and categorically told them that the BJP government will ensure that the project was scrapped. 

As expected, Stalin and the BJP took credit for the announcement, while Madurai CPI-M MP Su Venkatesan termed it as a victory for the villagers. 

The Nayakkarpatti Tungsten mineral block spread over an area of 5,000 acres was put on auction on November 7 by the Union Mines Ministry. However, the development led to major protests in Melur taluk of Madurai district with people from over 40 villages uniting against the mining block and awarding of the auction to a Vedanta-group company. 

The mining block is located close to Arittapatti, Tamil Nadu’s first Biodiversity Heritage Site, which is one of the reasons for the opposition to the project. Arittapatti consists of a chain of seven barren granite hillocks and a distinctive landscape of rocky hills that acts as a watershed, supporting 72 lakes, 200 natural spring pools, and 3 check dams. 

Hillocks in Arittapatti village have rich biological and historical significance with the presence of around 250 bird species, including 3 flagship Raptor species – Laggar Falcon (Falco jugger), Shaheen Falcon (Falco peregrines), and Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata). The village also features various megalithic structures, Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, Jain Beds, and 2200-year-old rock-cut temples. 

The auction also led to a blame game between the Centre and the state government with the former accusing the latter of not putting up any resistance from February 2024, when the block was initially put up for auction until the result was declared on November 7, 2024.