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2.2 Opposite party no.3 is the Ministry of Mines, Government of India, which is the principal organ of the Union of India for legislation, policy formulation and administration of mines and minerals in the country. It has also the duty to issue clarifications and guidelines on the interpretation of and manner of implementation of various mining laws, including rules and regulations, which will have bearing on mining operations and transactions across the country.

2.3 Pursuant to reforms initiated by the Government of India in July, 1991 in the fiscal, // 5 // industrial and trade regimes in force in the country, the National Mineral Policy was announced in March, 1993. The National Mineral Policy recognized the need for encouraging private investment and for attracting state of the art technology in the mineral sector paving the wave of private sector in the exploration and mining activities in India. It was in furtherance of the objectives of the said National Mineral Policy, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1997 (for short "MMDR Act, 1957"), the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 (for short "MCR, 1960") and the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 (for short "MCDR, 1988"), having been framed under the MMDR Act, 1957, have been modified from time to time to deliver a fair concession regime for mining development in India and to invite private sector investment in the country. With the aforementioned objectives of ensuring grater private sector participation in the mining sector, opposite party no.3 introduced (1) Minerals (Other than Atomic and Hydro Carbons Energy Minerals) Concession Rules, 2016 (for short "MCR, 2016"), which, unlike the // 6 // earlier MCR, provides for mechanisms for grant of concessions through auction, transfer of concessions as well as saving clauses to protect the rights of mineral concession licensees under the old regime, (2) The Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 2017 (MCDR, 2017) which deals with the rights of the reconnaissance or prospecting licensees or mining leaseholders and (3) Mineral Auction (Amendment) Rules, 2017, which provides for greater flexibility in the auction process to enhance participation in auctions and ensuring that such auctions are successful. 2.4 In this backdrop of the development of law, the Government of Odisha, in exercise of power conferred under Section 10B of the MMDR Act, 1957 read with Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015, issued a Notice Inviting Tender ("NIT") for auction of mining lease for iron ore and manganese minerals, the lease period of which was to expire on 31.03.2020 in terms of Section 8A(6) of the MMDR Act, 1957. The NIT invited bids for 12 mineral blocks of iron ore, two mineral blocks of // 7 // manganese and 6 mineral blocks for iron ore and manganese. These blocks included Jajang Iron Ore block, Nuagaon Iron Ore block, Narayanposhi Iron Ore and Manganese block and the Gonua Iron Ore block. The State Government issued detailed tender documents for each individual mining block and also published information regarding Mine Block Summary, which contains the extracts from the Geological Study Report for each mining block on the e-auction platform, and the same was accessible to all bidders. The e-auction of the said blocks was conducted by the Government in accordance with the aforesaid NIT on various dates. In the said e-auction, JSW Steel Ltd., the petitioner no.1 herein, submitted the highest final offer for Jajang Iron Ore block, Nuagaon Iron Ore block, Narayanposhi Iron Ore and Manganese block and the Gonua Iron Ore block and was declared as the 'Preferred Bidder' for grant of the aforementioned mining blocks by the Director of Mines, Odisha. Out of the said four blocks, Jajang and Nuagaon are non-captive mines and Narayanposhi and Gonua are captive mines. In March, 2020, in pursuance // 8 // of the deposit of the first installment of 10% upfront payment, the Government of Odisha issued Letters of Intent to the petitioner-company in respect of the aforementioned mining blocks in terms of Rule 10 of the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015.

(3) The average sale price of any mineral grade/concentrate in respect of a month shall be the weighted average of the ex-mine prices of the non-

captive mines, computed in accordance with the above provisions, the weight being the quantity dispatched from the mining lease area of mineral grade / concentrate relevant to each ex-mine price.

43. Publication of average sale price. - The Indian Bureau of Mines shall publish the average sale price of each mineral grade/concentrate removed from the mining leases in a month in a State within 45 days from the due date for filing the monthly returns as required under the Mineral Concession Development Rules, 1988.

(V) the per unit cost of production in case of captive mines.

(9) In case of trading or storage or end-use or export of minerals, for purpose of filing of returns, the value of the mineral grade or concentrate shall be,-

(a) where sale of the mineral grade or concentrate has occurred and the sale transaction is on an arms' length basis and the price is the sole consideration for the sale, the sale value of the mineral grade or concentrate recorded in the invoice;

(b) where sale has not occurred, the product of average sale price published monthly by the Indian Bureau of Mines for a particular mineral grade or concentrate for a particular State and the quantity dispatched or procured:

c) Railway freight, if applicable (indicate destination and distance)

d) Port handling charges/ export duty(indicate name of port)

e) Charges for sampling and analysis

f) Rent for the plot at Stocking yard

g) Other charges (specify clearly) Total (a) to (g) # Not applicable for captive dispatches and ex-mine sales

5. Sales/ Dispatches effected for Domestic Purposes and for Exports:

Nature of For Domestic Purposes For export Grade Despatch (^) (indicate Registration Consig Quant Sal Country Quantity F.O.B whether number as nee ity e Value( Domestic allotted by name valu ₹) Sale or the Indian ## e(₹) Domestic Bureau of Transfer or Mines to the Captive buyer ## consumption or Export) (^): To indicate the grades of ores as mentioned below (see @ and **) ## To indicate separately if more than one buyer.