After successful auction of 28 coal mines in the first two tranches, Ministry of Coal has launched the auction process of 40 new coal mines (21new mines under CM(SP) Act and 19 new mines under the Tranche 3 of MMDR Act). With coal mines rolling over from previous tranche, there shall be a total of 88 coal mines on offer.
Total geological resources of about 55 billion tonnes of coal are on offer from these 88 mines, of which 57 are fully explored mines and 31 are partially explored mines. There are 4 coking coal mines on offer. Mines are spread across 10 coal bearing states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
From this tranche onwards, Ministry of Coal has introduced provisions in the Agreement related to (i) Sustainable mining operations, including mine closure; (ii) Mechanised evacuation of coal; and (iii) Surrender of coal mine by Successful Bidder upon encountering difficult mining conditions.
The list of mines has been finalized post detailed deliberations and mines falling under protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, critical habitats, having forest cover greater than 40%, heavily built-up area etc. have been excluded.
Key features of auction process include introduction of National Coal Index, ease in participation with no restriction for prior coal mining experience, full flexibility in coal utilisation, optimized payment structures, efficiency promotion through incentives for early production and use of clean coal technology. Further incentives are being contemplated by the Ministry of Coal with focus on sustainability.
Addressing the function, Union Minister of Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi stressed that the Ministry of Coal and the Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are on a continuous journey to reform the coal sector and unlock values for the nation’s economy.
Minister Joshi threw light on the energy consumption pattern of the country and how the demand of power has increased by around 20 percent compared to pre-Covid times. The Minister emphasized that India is currently one of the lowest in terms of per capita consumption of power as compared to the developed countries and that the power demand of the country is expected to be doubled by the year 2040 owing to the major steps taken by the Government in connecting the remotest of the places with power and reiterated that the coal will continue to play a major part in the energy mix of the country for next 35-40 years.
