Bhubaneswar/New Delhi, March 25: Total 14 coal blocks from Odisha will be auctioned as the Central Government on Thursday offered 67 coal mines for sale, launching the second tranche of commercial coal mining auction and termed it a step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.
Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the auction process in a programme held in New Delhi. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain were also present in the function.
Out of the total 67 mines offered by the Ministry of Coal, 23 mines are under CM (SP) Act and 44 under MMDR Act.
The coal mines on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully and partially explored mines spread across six States Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
“Commercial coal mining will bring in new investments, create huge employment opportunities and boost socio-economic development in coal-bearing states. A market-based coal economy will help the nation become Aatmanirbhar in coal,” said Joshi.
Notably, 19 mines were successfully auctioned in thefirst-ever tranche of commercial coal mining auctions held last year with the premium quoted by the successful bidders ranging from 9.5% to 66.75%. The agreements between the Ministry of Coal and the successful bidders were signed in January this year. States will fetch around Rs 7,000 crore of revenues from these auctions considering production at peak rated capacity of 51 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA).
