Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Nov 29: Taking forward the process of fourth round of coal mines auction, the government has organised a pre-bid conference this week in which the queries of the prospective bidders would be clarified. The government had earlier this month kick-started the process for the fourth tranche of e-auctioning of eight coal blocks. “…the pre-bid conference for fourth tranche of e-auction of coal mines is scheduled to be held on December 4, 2015,” a Coal Ministry memorandum said.
The Coal Ministry further requested other ministries, including steel, to nominate their representatives to participate in the conference. The next round of mines auction is slated to be held between January 18-22 next year. “It has been decided to auction eight schedule III coal mines earmarked for non-regulated sectors like, iron and steel, cement and captive power plants in the fourth tranche. The e-auction for these mines will be held from January 18 to January 22, 2016,” Coal secretary, Anil Swarup had said earlier.
The last three rounds of auction have generated proceeds of more than Rs 3 lakh crore, which would be realised over 30 years by states where the mines are located. In the third round held in August, the government had to be content with proceeds of just Rs 4,364 crore as legal and other issues forced it to put only three out of the proposed 10 mines on the block. The eight mines to be auctioned in the fourth round would be for non-regulated sectors like iron and steel, cement and captive power plants, the government had earlier said.
The coal blocks to be put under the hammer include Brahmapuri and Suliyari in Madhya Pradesh, Bundu and Gondulpura in Jharkhand, Gondkhari and Khappa & Extn in Maharashtra and Jaganathpur A and Jaganathpur B in West Bengal. The Supreme Court in September last year had cancelled allocation of 204 coal mines to companies without auction.
As per reports, out of 24 producing coal blocks auctioned to private companies and allotted to state utilities, only six have commenced production, of a combined 2.5 million tonne (mt). Two more will start production by this month, according to the coal ministry.