NEW DELHI: In a ruling that could boost central revenue by Rs 50,000 crore, the Supreme Court has rendered infructuous all applications for allocation of major mineral mining leases pending with the Centre before auction was made the sole mode of allotment.The auction route was created through an amendment to the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act last year after the SC called coal block allocations made by the UPA government arbitrary and cancelled them. The SC had said natural resources were the property of the nation and should be auctioned.The problem arose when various high courts gave conflicting judgments on the status of applications pending with the Centre for grant of mining leases for extraction of major minerals like iron ore and bauxite. Some HCs said these applicants had a legitimate expectation to be given a lease. The government expects the auction of these mines to fetch approximately Rs 50,000 crore. Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd had proposed to set up an iron and steel plant in Sambalpur district of Odisha and applied for grant of lease for iron ore mining in nearby areas. In 2012, it got favourable orders from the SC, which asked the state government to recommend Bhushan Steel's case to the Centre for grant of mining lease relating to two blocks.Appearing for Bhushan Steel, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram said since the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the company, it could not have gone back on its word. They argued that since the state had recommended the name of the petitioner company for grant of mining lease, the Centre could not refuse the same on the ground of amendment to the MMDR Act and rules. Both said the state government had committed contempt of court by not acting in accordance with the SC's 2012 decision.Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Maninder Singh took the bench of Justices A K Sikri and A M Sapre through the amendment and change in rules. Singh said the SC had only asked the Odisha government to recommend Bhushan Steel for grant of iron ore mining lease, which it had done. Hence, there was no contempt by the state government. The bench was convinced and ruled that Bhushan Steel's application for grant of mining lease could not have been acted upon by the Centre as the law had changed.