After Indore and Mumbai, the Coal Ministry is set to organise an investor conclave in Bengaluru to enhance bidder participation in the commercial coal mines auctions.

The conclave will be held in Bengaluru on 3 December and will be chaired by Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Somappa Bommai will be the chief guest at the event.

The Ministry of Coal plans to conduct a series of investors’ conclave at several locations across India and has already organised such conclaves at Indore and  Mumbai which saw very good participation from the prospective bidders indicating the enthusiasm among bidders regarding the ongoing commercial coal mines auction.

The ministry has launched the process for auction of 133 coal mines under sixth round of commercial auctions and eight coal mines under second attempt of fifth tranche of commercial auctions.

These 141 coal mines are located in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, and are having cumulative peak rated capacity of around 305 million tonne per annum (MTPA).

The mines have been finalised post detailed deliberations, and mines falling under protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, critical habitats, having forest cover greater than 40 per cent, heavily built-up area etc., have been excluded, the Coal Ministry said in a release on Thursday (1 December).

The block boundaries of some of the coal mines where there was presence of dense habitation, high green cover or critical infrastructure etc, have been modified basis comments received during stakeholder consultations to enhance bidders’ interest and participation in these coal blocks, it added.