Rajasthan auctioned 140 mineral blocks. Eight are operational.

Rajasthan has auctioned more mineral blocks than any other Indian state, 140 by July 2026, of which 8 are operational. The Ministry of Mines gave both figures to the Rajya Sabha on 27 July 2026.

Sol Gravitas traced, stage by stage through government records, where each mining lease block stood on 1 and 2 November 2026. The main count covers the 75 blocks that state records show as auctioned from December 2020 to December 2025. Nearly all are limestone blocks, most of them won by cement companies. Blocks offered from December 2025 onward are reported separately, because most have had less than a year to move.

What the records show

For suppliers to mines, the 20 cleared blocks and the eight blocks cleared before auction are the furthest along in the records. What this means for suppliers to mines lists them by name.

The study uses only government records, company stock exchange filings and companies' own compliance reports, read on 1 and 2 November 2026.

140 auctioned, 8 operational

Rajasthan has auctioned more blocks than any other state. About 6% of its auctioned blocks are operational (8 of 140), against about 15% for India as a whole (105 of 720). Both counts include composite licence blocks, which must be explored before they can be mined.

A Lok Sabha reply of 12 August 2026 gives the same 8 for Rajasthan. Counting mining lease blocks only, it says lease deeds had been executed for 117 of 459 auctioned nationally, and 105 of these had commenced mineral production, about 23%. Rajasthan's 140 include 30 composite licence blocks, so its share on the same basis is about 7%.

The pace of auctions is rising. The Ministry's year-by-state table shows Rajasthan auctioned 7 blocks in 2021-22 and 38 in 2025-26. Most of the 140 were auctioned in the last three years, and a recently auctioned block has had less time to move through the stages that follow.

Where the auctioned blocks stand

Of the 75 blocks auctioned, 58 are live. The state rejected 15 winning bids, one auction was cancelled (Bhukia-Jagpura) and one block was auctioned again (Bagawas). Of the 58, 57 are limestone and one is iron ore. Twenty-five need clearance from the Ministry of Environment and 30 from the state authority; for the other three, no clearance filing was found or the block was not checked. In this study the larger blocks, about 290 ha and up, go to the Ministry, and the smaller ones, about 200 ha and below, to the state authority.

Almost every live block reaches an approved mining plan: 57 of the 58 have one. After that the count falls at each step. A third of the live blocks have not yet applied for environmental clearance, and nearly half of those that applied are still in process or delisted.

Across the 57 blocks with a plan, the median time from auction to an approved plan was 326 days, and no block took more than 631.

Blocks offered later. Besides the 75, the state offered 24 more mining lease blocks between December 2025 and June 2026. Twenty are confirmed auctioned. Most are at the mining plan stage or earlier.

• The eight pre-cleared Jodhpur blocks already hold clearance (see What has changed since 2024).
• JMK-R2 (Nuvoco Vistas) and Tulsi Ram Ki Dhani-II (UltraTech Cement) have approved mining plans.
• Minyun Ki Dhani (Main) (Mangalam Cement) submitted its mining plan on 28 October 2026.

Time from auction to clearance

For the 20 blocks that have clearance, the stage from application to clearance was the shortest. Most of the time passed before the application.

For the 17 blocks cleared by the state authority, the median from auction to clearance was 759 days. By stage, the median was 345 days from auction to an approved mining plan, then 394 days from the plan to the clearance application, then 59 days from the application to clearance. Stage medians do not add up to the overall median, because each is the middle value of its own stage. In between plan and application, a company needs terms of reference for an environmental study, then the study itself, which usually includes a public hearing held by the state pollution control board. The records do not show how that time divides between the companies, their consultants and the authorities.

The longest stage from application to clearance was for 4G-IIa: 468 days, with four rounds of requests for more information. The eight blocks the state cleared before auction skipped the early steps. Their clearances moved to the winner 86 days after the auction (see What has changed since 2024).

Larger blocks without central clearance. Twenty-two live blocks need clearance from the Ministry of Environment and do not yet have it. Fourteen were auctioned from 2021 to 2024. For seven of these, PARIVESH showed the latest clearance application as "Delisted by system" on 1 November 2026.

A delisting means the portal's time limit for a reply passed. The record does not show why, and an applicant may let an application lapse for its own reasons, for example to revise it. Sol Gravitas did not ask the companies. Delisting is not final: the portal allows an application to be revived. Each of the ten clearance applications filed for these fourteen blocks has been delisted at least once. Three were revived and are in process (Ramgarh, Nimana-Duniya and HPB 19). The other four blocks have not yet applied for clearance: Gothra Parasrampura West and East, which have held terms of reference since January 2024, Joga-II and Khuiala South. Of the eight central-clearance blocks auctioned in 2025, only Parewar (SN-I) has applied, in September 2026.

Smaller blocks without clearance. Thirteen live blocks that go to the state authority do not yet have clearance. Three applications show as delisted (Hariyav Jaspura, TKSB 38 and NB 10), four are in process (TKB 11 and NB 01 to NB 03) and six blocks have not yet applied (TKSB 17, 23, 30 and 31, Tadas-I and Tadas-II).

After clearance

After environmental clearance, a block still needs a registered lease and the state pollution board's consent to establish and then to operate. Some blocks also need forest clearance or permission to mine pasture land. Sol Gravitas looked for each of these steps for the 20 cleared blocks, the eight blocks cleared before auction, and three Nagaur blocks auctioned in 2016 to 2018. The records searched were documents filed on PARIVESH, company compliance reports, Indian Bureau of Mines inspection reports and the state lease register.

One block has every step on record. Parewar-B in Jaisalmer, won by Wonder Cement, is the only block in the study whose full path from auction to output is on public record. The documents are filed with the company's 2026 application to expand the mine.

From auction to consent to operate took 733 days, and from clearance to consent to operate, 271. The Mining Engineer, Jaisalmer, certifies run-of-mine output of 0 tonnes in 2022-23, 751,210 tonnes in 2023-24, 205,103 tonnes in 2024-25 and 179,461 tonnes in 2025-26. In a certified compliance report dated 25 June 2026, the Ministry of Environment's regional office records the project as "in operational phase". Wonder Cement has applied to raise capacity from 1.4 to 7.84 million tonnes a year. Since 21 October 2026 the application has shown "ADS raised", meaning additional details were sought.

The other blocks. For the rest, the record is partial. The table shows what each record says, oldest clearance first.

Forest and pasture land. Of 80 forest clearance proposals for mining in Rajasthan on PARIVESH, one is for a block in this study: 105.149 ha of forest land for Block 4G-I-a (JK Lakshmi Cement, a different block from 4G-IIa), submitted 23 September 2025. It shows as "Pending at PP due to EDS by DFO", meaning it is with the applicant after the divisional forest officer sought essential details. That block does not yet have environmental clearance. The forest no-objections on record for Parewar-B and Khinya-II A are for non-forest land. For pasture (charagah) land, the state's post-auction guidance lists a Revenue Department no-objection. Khinya-II A's compliance reports state that 43.03 ha of its lease area is grazing land and that it will not be diverted at any stage of mining. No other block's pasture-land position was found on public record.

What has changed since 2024

The records show four developments since 2024: clearance obtained before auction, rejection of winning bids, new deadlines in the auction rules, and an auction calendar that marks the Great Indian Bustard boundary.

Clearance before auction. The Rajasthan State Mineral Exploration Trust applied for environmental clearance on eight small limestone blocks near Jhak and Murkasani, Jodhpur (JMK-01 to JMK-08, 4 to 6 ha each). The state authority granted it on 4 November 2025.

• The first auction attempt in November 2025 was annulled.
• The second attempt ran on 25 March 2026. One bidder qualified for each block, BLA Projects Private Limited.
• The clearances were transferred to the winner on 19 June 2026, 86 days after the auction.
• None of the eight blocks was in the state's lease register on 1 November 2026.

The state's 2026-27 auction calendar plans seven more blocks with clearances built in, at Khuiala, Jaisalmer. Clearance applications for several Khuiala blocks were filed by the same trust in July to October 2026.

Rejection of winning bids. The state can reject a winning bid under Clause 14.11 of its tender document.

• In February and March 2024 it rejected 13 bids, all from Ambuja Cements, for 12 blocks of about 4.8 ha and one of 307 ha (HPB21), all in Nagaur. Its list of auctioned blocks dated 13 December 2024 marks each "Bid rejected by Govt." and gives no reason. Ambuja's other blocks in the same PSB series (PSB01, PSB02, PSB06, PSB07, PSB11 and PSB12) were not rejected and have since received clearance.
• By orders dated 31 December 2025 it rejected two more. Birla Corporation had offered 20.60% for Gourum Khan Ki Dhani (South), Jaisalmer. Mangalam Cement had offered 35.05% for Nimana Duniya Extension, Kota. Bids in these auctions are a percentage of the value of mineral dispatched, paid to the state.
• Both companies' stock exchange filings give the reason stated in the order: the offers were "comparatively lower than the bids received in auctions of other similar limestone blocks in the region".
• Both filings say the company had paid the upfront amount due and is considering its options, including legal recourse.

This study counts all 15 as not live. The state's list of 13 December 2024 still includes the 13 rejected that year, each marked as rejected.

New deadlines in the auction rules. The Ministry of Mines notified intermediate timelines on 17 October 2025. The rules provide for appropriating 1% of a bidder's performance security for each month of delay attributable to the bidder; the amount can be adjusted against the auction premium if the final milestone is met on time. A state that is late issuing the letter of intent gets 5% less of the second upfront instalment for each month. A lessee pays only half the auction premium on minerals produced within five years of the letter of intent.

The Great Indian Bustard boundary. The 2026-27 calendar marks 14 of its named future blocks as inside the Great Indian Bustard boundary, all in Jaisalmer. Nine fall outside it. The calendar records this as a status note and gives no further detail.

What this means for suppliers to mines

A block's need for equipment, explosives, transport and services generally grows as it moves toward production. In the records, the step before that is environmental clearance, and 28 blocks have it. The table lists them, newest clearance first.

This is not a forecast. After clearance a block still needs a registered lease and the state pollution board's consents, and some need forest or pasture-land permission. For most of the blocks below, those steps are not yet on public record. The section After clearance sets out what the records show for each block.

Three things stand out for a supplier.

• Most cleared blocks are small. Twenty-four of the 28 are under 35 ha, mostly in Nagaur, Beawar and Jodhpur. The four large ones, 200 to 515 ha, are in Jaisalmer, Nagaur and Chittorgarh.
• Most clearances are recent. Twenty-one of the 28 clearances are dated June to October 2026.
• Only five of the 28 were in the lease register. Two of those cleared in 2022 and three in February or March 2026.

The Ministry's replies to Parliament count 8 operational blocks in Rajasthan but do not name them. The state register shows exactly 8 leases from the auction era: these 5, plus three Nagaur blocks auctioned in 2016 to 2018. This study could not confirm from public records whether these are the 8 the Ministry counts.

Output is on public record for four of these eight: 3B1A, 3B1B, 3B2 and Parewar-B. Khinya-II A holds consent to operate, and its company reports show nil output to September 2025. No output record was found for Sindwari, TKSB 18 or TKSB 24.

Blocks offered from December 2025 onward are earlier in the process; see Where the auctioned blocks stand.

Status date and corrections. Statuses are as shown on official portals on 1 and 2 November 2026 and may have changed since. This study is not investment or legal advice. Corrections: info@solgravitas.com