91 coal mines successfully auctioned so far, informs govt; Estimated to attract annual revenue of over 33,000 Cr
The government has informed that 91 mines have been successfully auctioned so far. According to the Coal Ministry, six commercial mines have already started coal production and another three are likely to start production in the coming months.
The Ministry has completed seven rounds of auction with the help of a transparent online auction system launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the year 2020.
Coal mining from the auctioned mines is estimated to attract annual revenue of over 33,000 crore rupees, with the production of over 220 million tonnes per annum. The Coal Ministry has said that auctioned mines will generate three lakh employment opportunities.
The 8th round of commercial coal mine auctions was launched on November 15, 2023 by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi. The pre-bid meeting for the round was held on December 12, 2023 and more than 50 bidders had participated in the pre-bid meeting.
The last date for submission of bids for 8th round is January 29, 2024. The bids received in the 8th round will be opened on January 30, 2024 in the presence of the bidders.
In the 8th round, 39 coal mines have been offered of which 35 coal mines have been offered under 8th round with cumulative peak rated capacity PRC of ~77 million tonne (MT) and four coal mines have been offered under second attempt of 7th round with cumulative PRC of 30 MT.
The ongoing 8th round has witnessed an overwhelming response from the industry which is evident from the fact that a lot of queries have been received from number of bidders along with several site-visit requests. This shows the trust, the industry has in the transparent commercial coal auction regime which was launched by the Prime Minister in June 2020.
