Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on August 17, said that more than 107 coal blocks to be auctioned by the Ministry of Coal in the near future.

Coal blocks to be made available for auction

The Ministry of Coal has executed agreements with the successful bidders for 16 coal mines under sale of coal of 13th tranche, 14th tranche and second attempt of 12th tranche on August 17.

Joshi said that during the last four months Coal India Ltd has set a new record by producing around 207 million tons of coal. The Union Ministry is targeting production of 900 million tons this financial year and the target of Coal India Limited alone is set at 700 million tons.

Joshi pointed out that the Indian economy is growing at a very fast pace and coal-based power generation has recorded a 16.8 percent increase this year and the production of domestic coal has gone up by 22 percent. "By the year 2030, India’s coal requirement will be 1.5 billion tons," the minister stated.

Minister of State for Coal, Mines & Railways, Raosaheb Patil Danve, Secretary Coal Dr Anil Kumar Jain, Additional Secretary M. Nagaraju and other senior functionaries of the ministry attended the function. The event marked the successful allocation of 43 coal mines to date since the launch of commercial coal mining in the country by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2020.

The total annual revenue generation from these three tranches of the commercial auction is estimated at Rs.4286.53 crore considering production at aggregated Peak Rate Capacity level of 23.77 million tons per annum. Once fully operational, these coal mines are expected to generate employment for 31,954 persons directly and indirectly. A total investment of Rs. 3565.50 crore will be incurred to operationalise these mines.

The 16 mines for which coal mine/ block production and development agreements were executed are Beharaband North Extn, Gondbahera Ujheni East, Tokisud Block II, Bankhui, Bijahan, Brinda and Sasai, Koilajan, Garampani, Majra, Namchik Namphuk, Utkal C, China, Utkal B1 & Utkal B2 and Gare Palma IV/6. The successful bidders include Auro Coal Private Limited, MP Natural Resources Private Limited, Twenty-First Century Mining Private Limited, Yazdani Steel and Power Limited, Mahanadi Mines and Minerals Private Limited, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, Assam Mineral Development Corporation Limited, BS Ispat Limited, Platinum Alloys Private Limited and Jindal Steel and Power Limited.

In the 13th tranche, 88 coal mines were put up for auction. Of these 88 coal mines, 10 mines had received two or more bids which have been auctioned successfully. In the 14th Tranche, 99 mines were put up for auction. For five mines, two or more bids were received which have been auctioned successfully.

In the second attempt of the 12th Tranche, 11 coal mines were put up for auction. A total of seven bids were received for four coal mines from the bidders. Of these four mines, two or more bids were received for two coal mines which have been auctioned successfully and the remaining two coal mines received a single bid and were allocated to the successful bidders under the receipt of directions from the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECoS). The winning percentage revenue share for all these tranches are ranging from 5% to 344.75 percent with an average percentage revenue share of 58.07 percent.

It may be recalled that the Coal Ministry has enhanced incentives for coal gasification from 20 percent to 50 percent from the 3rd tranche onward. This will lead to fulfilling the vision of the Prime Minister to achieve 100 MT coal gasification by 2029-2030.

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