The coal ministry has received two or more eligible bids for only 19 coal mines for its first-ever auction of coal mine for commercial end-use. The ministry began the auction process starting June 18 this year and offered 38 coal mines for auction. It received 76 bids in total for only 23 coal mines as against 38 mines.

Adani Enterprises has placed bids for 7 coal mines and Adani Power Resources for 1 coal mine, making it the bidder for the maximum number of coal mines. This is followed by 5 bids placed by Hindalco, 4 bids by JSPL, 3 bid from Vedanta, and 1 bid from JSW. Rungta Mines, which had offered to place bids for coal mines, withdrew in the technical bid opening round.

However, Tata Group did not participate in the first commercial coal auction.

Maximum bids are placed for the Gare Palma IV/7 block and Goititora (East & West), which saw 8 bids for each of these mines. Gare Palma IV/7 coal mine in the state of Chhattisgarh and has geological reserves of 239.045 million tonnes (MT). The Goititora (East & West) is located in Madhya Pradesh and has geological reserves of 5.2 MT.

Another coal mine that is up for auction is Gare Palma IV/1 where companies interested in bidding are Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, and JSPL. This particular mine was earlier allotted to JSPL prior to de-allocation by the Supreme Court and the company has failed to acquire it back in the previous coal mines auction. Fierce bidding is expected for these two mines.

The bids will be evaluated by an evaluation committee and qualified bidders will be shortlisted for the auction starting October 19.

First Published:Sept 30, 2020 11:21 PM IST