SC notice to Centre on plea vs Sunflag Iron as preferred bidder for MP block
This story was originally published at 13:29 IST on 28 January 2026
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NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Wednesday issued a notice to the Centre on Anandam Minerals Pvt. Ltd.'s plea against the government's decision to declare Sunflag Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. as the preferred bidder for the grant of a composite licence for phosphorite mineral in respect of the Surajpura Phosphorite Block in Madhya Pradesh. The top court also sought responses from Sunflag Steel and MSTC Ltd. on Anandam Minerals's plea and listed the case for hearing on Feb. 4.
On Dec. 16, the Delhi High Court had upheld the government's decision to declare Sunflag Iron and Steel as the preferred bidder and rejected Anandam Minerals' plea to resume bidding for the mineral block from the point at which a technical error had allegedly occurred. Challenging the high court's order, Anandam Minerals subsequently moved the apex court.
The government had in January 2025 issued a notice inviting tenders to grant a composite licence for the mineral block through an electronic auction in which Anandam Minerals was declared a technically qualified bidder. However, during the second round of the auction, Anandam Minerals' screen went black, preventing it from submitting its bid within the specified time.
In May, the government declared Sunflag Iron and Steel as the preferred bidder, following which Anandam Minerals moved the high court. The Ministry of Mines said that none of the other bidders had reported any technical glitches, and therefore, the petition lacks merit and should not be entertained.
In their September report, a court-appointed committee of experts concluded that Anandam Minerals failed to prove that the server of MSTC, which conducted the auction, was at fault. "... we have no option but to go by what the experts have reported and in the absence of any glitch attributable to the server of the respondent No.2 – MSTC (Metal Scrap Trade Corp.), we are unable to find any force in the submissions made by the learned senior counsel for the petitioner," the high court had said in its verdict.
At 1249 IST, shares of Sunflag Iron and Steel were up 2.6% at INR 246.05 on the National Stock Exchange, while those of MSTC were up 2.9% at INR 468.95. End
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Tanima Banerjee
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