Commercial Coal Auctions: Thirty-Nine Mines Up For Grabs Under Eighth Round Of Bidding

The Ministry of Coal will launch the eighth round of commercial coal auctions on Wednesday (15 November) offering a total of 39 blocks.

The mines on offer in this round of auction are located in five states, namely, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal.

The coal sector opened for commercial mining in 2020, with the first-ever successful auctions of commercial mining launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, 2020.

Since then, the Ministry has conducted seven rounds of commercial coal mining auctions, and 91 mines have been auctioned, with peak rated capacity of 221 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).

To promote private sector participation in the coal mining industry and increasing coal production, the Ministry has been introducing various initiatives.

The mine boundaries have been considered after detailed deliberations to remove the bottlenecks and make the mines more attractive for prospective bidders.

Further, the Ministry will also provide ‘Drone Pictography’ of each mine as a part of the mine dossier for the benefit of the bidders.

In the commercial coal mine auctions, there has been no restriction on the sale and/or utilisation of coal. Further, the eligibility criteria has been done away with and there is no technical or financial eligibility criteria for participating in the coal mine auctions.

The Coal Ministry has also developed a portal ‘Single Window Clearance System’ to facilitate the grant of clearances and approvals to the successful bidders. Also, the Project Monitoring Unit has been appointed to hand hold bidders in getting various clearances.