The Cabinet has approved the National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP), which will pave the way for auction of 100 prospective mineral blocks, boosting India?s mining potential. Through the new policy, the government is expecting to attract private sector in exploration, besides involving state-run Geological Survey of India (GSI), Mineral Exploration Corporation (MECL) and other notified agencies. According to NMEP, selection of private explorer is proposed to be done through a transparent process of competitive bidding through e-auction. For this, reasonable mineral blocks for regional exploration will be identified by state governments for auctioning.