The government said it has cancelled the auction of Tamil Nadu's Nayakkarpatti tungsten mineral block which is near the Arittapatti Biodiversity site and a number of cultural heritage sites. Tungsten is a critical and strategic mineral. 

The announcement came a day after representatives of local Ambalakarars community from Madurai district met coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy and urged him to cancel the sale of the block. The mine covering over 20.16 sq km area was proposed for the auction in February last year. Inputs were taken from the government of Tamil Nadu before the block was put up for auction. 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the award of tungsten mining rights in Madurai district. Stalin asserted that his government will not allow mining there considering aspects such as a biodiversity heritage site and people's opposition. The state government had informed that land schedule details were unavailable. 

It was also informed that a quarry lease for granite over 47.37 hectares in Aritapatti village, Melur Taluk, had been granted to TAMIN, a state government entity, on September 19, 2008 for 30 years. 

Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc Ltd emerged as the preferred bidder in the auction of the block on November 7 last year.