The Union Coal Ministry has launched two more mines, taking the total number of mines auctioned to 30 that is likely to generate revenue of Rs 8,158 crore and employment of 85,406 people.
Of the two mines auctioned on Sunday, one is located at Lalgarh in Jharkhand and the other at Beheraband in Madhya Pradesh. The auction for the two mines has received multiple bids, the ministry said in a release. It also mentioned that Lalgarh mine has been fully explored while Beheraband mine is partially explored.
The ministry, in its second attempt, auctioned 11 coal mines for commercial mining on September 27, 2021 and bids were received for four mines. The first tranche of auction was launched in June 2020.
Of the total 30 mines auctioned by the ministry so far this year, 23 are fully explored while seven mines are partially explored, the ministry stated.
According to the ministry statement, total peak rated capacity auctioned till date is 63.17 MTPA with average premium of approximately 27.78 per cent against the floor price of four per cent indicating strong demand for coal mines in the market.
Commercial coal mine auction has witnessed strong competition and several first-time participants from the ‘non-end user’ category like Real Estate, Infrastructure, Pharma, etc., have also emerged as successful bidders in the auction, which is a positive sentiment shared by the industry after removal of ‘End Use’ criteria from the bidding process and is expected to bring in more efficiency and technological advancement in the mining industry, the coal ministry stated.
