Govt launches second attempt of commercial coal mine auction

The government has launched the second attempt of the auction process for 11 coal mines for commercial mining. In a statement, the Ministry of Coal said that these were the mines that were proposed in the first attempt launched on March 25, 2021, and had brought single tenders. The Nominated Authority of the Ministry of Coal has begun the second attempt of the auction process for 11 coal mines (4 mines under the Tranche 12 of CM(SP) Act and seven mines under the Tranche 2 of MMDR Act) allocated for sale of coal following the rules specified under these acts. Out of these 11 mines, six are completely examined, and five are partially examined. The auction will be carried out online through a transparent two-stage process, based on the percentage revenue share. Key features of the auction process involve the introduction of the National Coal Index, efficiency promotion through incentives for early production, efficiency in participation with no restraint for previous coal mining experience, optimised payment structures, complete flexibility in coal usage and utilisation of clean coal technology. According to the Ministry, the start of the sale of the tender document shall commence from 27th September 2021. The Ministry of Coal had earlier said that it implemented deals with the eight successful bidders according to the auction of the second tranche of coal mines for commercial mining. The ministry had said that the eight coal mines have successfully been auctioned with the winning percentage share of revenue varying from 6 to 75.5% with an average revenue share of 30%. The electronic auction of these mines was held in the first week of August 2021. In the first attempt of auction under the 11th tranche of auction under the CM (S) Act 2015 and under the first tranche of auction under the MMDR Act 1957, out of the 38 coal mines, 19 were auctioned successfully. Out of the remaining mines, four coal mines that had obtained a single bid in the first attempt were put up for re-auction in a second attempt by the Ministry of Coal with the same terms and conditions but with the highest initial proposal received in the first annulled attempt of the auction as the floor price for the second attempt. The Ministry of Coal had started the auction process of 38 coal mines in the first tranche of the auction coal sale for commercial mining. Image SourceAlso read: 15 CBM blocks on offer in the first bidding round in over a decade