Government to auction 10 more coal blocks for commercial mining this week

13 Sep 2022 , 07:46 AM

According to a formal announcement made on Monday, the Central government will auction off 10 coal blocks for commercial coal mining this week.

This occurs while the government takes steps to increase domestic coal production.

Eight mines out of the ten blocks put up for auction will be sold during the fifth round of commercial coal mining on Tuesday, and the two remaining mines will be sold during the second try of the fourth round of commercial coal mine auction on Wednesday.

The coal ministry announced in a statement that an electronic auction will be held for eight coal mines on September 13 and for two coal mines on September 14, 2022.

Sursa, Dahegaon/Makardhokra-IV, Basantpur, Bandha North, MarkiMangli-IV, Jitpur, Rampia and its dip side, and Ghogharpalli and its dip extension are among the mines that will be placed up for sale.

These 10 mines have a combined Peak Rate Capacity (PRC) of 39.31 million tonnes annually.

The government has so far put up for sale 43 coal mines with a peak annual capacity of 85.54 million tonnes.

Over 107 coal mines would be put up for sale soon, according to coal minister Pralhad Joshi’s statement from last month.

For the current fiscal year, the coal ministry has set a production goal of 900 million tonnes, including 700 million tonnes from state-owned CIL.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi started the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining in 2020, opening up the Indian coal industry to private investors.

The measure intends to make India the largest coal exporter, the prime minister had stated, in addition to opening up the country’s coal business to private actors.

India is currently the second-largest importer of dry fuel despite being the fourth-largest producer in the world.

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