The collective reserve price of both mines was set at Rs 120 crore, and Director (Mines and Geology) Arun Kumar said the department was looking at four companies that had submitted the earnest money of Rs 12 crore each — 10 per cent of the total amount. But none of the companies — Faridabad Minerals, Expo Constructions, Chaddha Constructions and Blue Bird — made a bid for the mining site, which is under the scanner for the rapidly depleting groundwater level in Faridabad district.

“We initially called for individual bidding for the two mines but since no one came forward, we merged the two in the session after lunch,” Kumar said. “We thought that might have been a hindrance to participants.”

By 3.30 pm, the officials were forced to cancel the auctioning process due to lack of enthusiasts.

Explaining the hesitation among possible bidders, Kumar said: “Learning from our past experiences, we had instructed the lessee (mining companies expected to bid for the sites) for a bank guarantee of the final amount, which meant a minimum of Rs 120 crore. But the participants said this was too heavy an amount to cough up, especially at this time of an economic slowdown.

“But we cannot change them since these are policy matters.”

By Kumar’s reckoning what might have gone against the firms bidding for the mining sites was the pending decisions in courts. “It is certainly a gamble for a company which is putting such a huge amount in these mines,” he said. “In case the judgment goes against them, the lessee ends up losing the entire deposit money.”

But Kumar said the earnest money of Rs 12 crore will be returned without any deduction since the auction was cancelled.