New Delhi: A total of six commercial coal mines have already started coal production and three more are likely to start production in a couple of months, said the Coal Ministry on Friday. This would take the total number of commercial coal mines that are operational so far to nine by the end of the current financial year. Under the Commercial Coal Mine Auction launched by the Ministry of Coal three years ago, 91 mines have been successfully auctioned so far. It usually takes four-five years to operationalise a coal mine, according to industry experts.
The government has so far completed seven rounds of commercial coal mine auctions. While the eighth round is underway, the government has also launched the ninth tranche in December 2023, putting on offer 31 coal mines across four states.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Coal said that it has received an overwhelming response from the industry for the 8th round of commercial coal mine auctions. “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,” it said.
The 8th round of commercial coal mine auctions was launched on November 15, 2023 by the Union Minister of Coal 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. 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.
Coal mining from the already auctioned mines is estimated to bring an annual revenue of Rs 33,343 crore, considering production at aggregated Peak Rate Capacity level of 220.90 million tonne per annum (MTPA), said the ministry. Once these mines are fully operational, they will generate employment for around three lakh persons, directly and indirectly, it added.
Commercial coal mining is expected to bring new investments to the country and the entire revenue from the auctions would be allocated to the coal-bearing states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.