Centre offers 67 blocks in second tranche of commercial coal mine auction

New Delhi, March 25: Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi, launched its 2nd Tranche of the auction for commercial coal mining offering 67 mines for the sale of coal. While launching coal mining the government was making coal the driver of economic activities in the country.

 

"We are making coal the driver of economic activities in the country. There are huge opportunities that the Indian coal sector is offering. Therefore, I invite investors to come and be a part of vastly untapped coal reserves in the country. Grow your businesses and take India along on the growth course," Joshi said in a statement.

 

Out of the total 67 mines offered by the Ministry of Coal, 23 mines are under CM(SP) Act and 44 under MMDR Act. The coal mines on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines, and fully and partially explored mines spread across 06 States Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh.

 

 

 

The Coal Minister also said looking at the past success, the government is moving towards adopting a ‘Rolling Auction’ mechanism for conducting future auctions. Coal is the first mineral resource where a Rolling Auction mechanism is being implemented in which a pool of coal blocks will always remain available for auctions.

 

“With rolling auctions, we will upload a comprehensive list of mines along with key technical data and bidders can submit their preferences for the mines to be included in the next tranche of auction. This would be a continuous process and would result in expediting the auction setup. Moreover, it will also help bidders in planning better and would further enhance transparency in the system.” said Joshi.

 

“Start of commercial coal mining is the most revolutionary and progressive measure taken in the coal sector of the country. It will bring the leading miners with the latest technologies and cost competitiveness in the Indian coal sector. Indian coal sector will witness huge improvements in productivity and modernisation.” CEO NITI Aayog Shri Amitabh Kant said in his address.

 

Notably, 19 mines were successfully auctioned in the first-ever tranche of commercial coal mining auctions held last year with the premium quoted by the successful bidders ranging from 9.5% to 66.75%. The agreements between the Ministry of Coal and the successful bidders were signed in January this year.

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