Rajasthan State PCS

• 02 Aug 2022

Rajasthan Creates New History in Iron Ore Block Auction

Why In News?

• On July 31, 2022, Additional Chief Secretary (Mines and Petroleum) Dr. Subodh Agrawal informed that the e-auction of iron ore mining block of Bagawas block of Jaipur has been done at 452 percent more than the reserve price, which is more than the mining blocks of the entire country. The highest in auction history.

Key Points

• Dr. Subodh Agarwal said that this is the highest ever premium amount in the entire country since the Mineral Auction Rules, 2015 came into effect. Earlier, Madhya Pradesh had received the highest bid of 320 percent in the auction of mineral rock phosphate blocks.
• Dr. Agarwal said that in the final auction process for allotment of 5.9266 hectares of iron ore block at Bagawas near Viratnagar in Jaipur district, the highest bid by the department was made by Shubh Lohia Prof. Bharat Coal Traders Bhatinda, Punjab put up 45.2 per cent.
• He informed that the auction of this mining block of Iron Ore of Bagawas is likely to fetch the state government a revenue of Rs 119.65 crore in the next 50 years, including royalty, premium, DMFT, NMET etc.
• The Additional Chief Secretary said that with the presence of abundant reserves of iron ore in Rajasthan, the department is preparing blocks for new exploration and auction.
• Jaipur, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Karauli, Bhilwara and Alwar have abundant reserves of mineral iron ore. At present, a total of 16 mining leases of iron ore including 4 in Jaipur , 3 in Sikar, 6 in Jhunjhunu, 2 in Bhilwara and 1 in Alwar are functional in the state and according to an estimate, they are generating an annual revenue of more than Rs. 50 crore.

Government of India Honored Rajasthan in Agri Infra Fund Scheme

Why In News?

• The Government of India honored Rajasthan for its excellent work in the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund scheme at a function held in New Delhi on July 30, 2022.

Key Points

• At the function, Minister of Agriculture, Government of India, Narendra Singh Tomar and Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Chaudhary gave away the awards to Principal Secretary (Agriculture) of Rajasthan Dinesh Kumar and Registrar (Cooperation) Muktanand Agarwal.
• Rajasthan has received this award for securing the second position as the Rising State in the Agri Infra Fund Scheme.
• Registrar Muktanand Agarwal informed that the state ranks second in the country in terms of projects (amounting to Rs 747.17 crore) approved in the Agri Infra Fund Scheme. A total of 781 projects have been approved in the State. The state also ranks second in the country in terms of loan amount disbursed (Rs 559.50 crore) for the projects. So far, a total of 713 projects have been given loans in the state.
• Agriculture Infrastructure Fund scheme is a scheme for development of infrastructure in the agriculture sector. Under the scheme , an interest subvention of 3% is payable on this scheme by providing credit facility to primary agricultural cooperatives, marketing cooperative societies, farmers' produce organizations, self-help groups, startups, agricultural entrepreneurs, etc. The duration of the scheme for interest subvention benefit is from 2020-21 to 2032-33.
• The Registrar informed that the scheme will benefit units such as warehouse, silo, cold chain logistics facility, pack house, e-marketing platform, grading and sorting, primary processing centre, fruit cooking room etc.
• Units for production of organic inputs in community agriculture projects, infrastructure development for smart and precision farming, development of supply chain infrastructure in clusters, PPP based projects in these sectors etc.
• The Agri-Processing, Agri-Business and Agri-Export Promotion Policy 2019 of the Government of Rajasthan along with the said A.I.F. The scheme has been incorporated in which capital grant is being given upto a maximum of 50% and interest subvention of maximum 6%.
• The benefits of the said schemes are also being extended to the co-operative societies by incorporating the scheme of NABARD to convert PACKS and LAMPS into Multi-Service Centres. The Department of Cooperation in the State has been made the nodal department for implementation of the scheme.