The Ministry of Mines initiated the Ninth Tranche of e-auction for Critical and Strategic Mineral Blocks, concurrent with the Third Tranche of the Auction for Grant of Exploration Licence (EL) blocks. A total of 20 critical and strategic mineral blocks are now available for bidding under the guidelines of the Mineral (Auction) Rules. Across the prior eight tranches, 100 distinct critical and strategic mineral blocks were presented, with 64 achieving successful auction outcomes, reflecting a 64% success rate.