Centre Starts Eighth Round Of Commercial Coal Mines Auction

The Ministry of Coal on Wednesday started the eighth round of commercial coal mines auction process. A total of 39 coal mines are on offer, said officials.

"Today Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi started the eighth round of commercial coal mines auction. In this total 39 coal blocks are offered. Out of this, 35 coal blocks are being offered for the first time and the other 4 have been offered before too," Coal Mines Secretary Amrit Lal Meena told ANI.

Starting the auction virtually, Union Minister for Coal Pralhad Joshi said that all efforts are on to stop coal import by 2025-26. He also stated that coal production from underground mines (UG) will be further scaled up to touch 100 million tonnes (MT) by 2030 by deploying mass production technology.

The mines being auctioned are spread across coal-bearing States of Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Bihar, said the Ministry of Coal.

These mines come under the CMSP Act and MMDR Act. Out of 39 coal mines, four mines are being offered under the 2nd attempt of the 7th round under the CMSP/ MMDR Act, where single bids were received in the first attempt.

Of the 35 coal mines being offered under the eighth round, 16 coal mines are new ones and 19 mines are being rolled over from earlier tranches.

The Ministry of Coal has taken a series of reforms to ensure that the coal sector grows at a rapid pace and is able to meet the growing energy demand of the country, said officials.

For the eighth round, mines falling under protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, critical habitats, having forest cover greater than 40 per cent, heavily built-up areas etc. have been excluded.

The block boundaries of some of the coal mines where there was the presence of dense habitation, high green cover critical infrastructure etc. have been modified for the early development of coal mines.

Addressing the function Secretary Amrit Lal Meena said that captive/commercial coal mines are contributing significantly to overall production. He said that systematic surveys had been carried out before offering 39 mines for auction.

For speedy evacuation of coal from mines, rail connectivity is being augmented and further added, Meena said. (ANI)