Keen interest from states for coal blocks

In the fight for allotment of coal blocks, NTPC, the government-owned power generation giant, has put in the most applications for coal blocks, at eight.

Singareni Collieries, the second largest coal mining company, has done so for five.

Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and the new state of Telangana were the aggressive ones, putting in submissions for blocks through their various state-owned companies. Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat have also applied for least one.

A total of 69 applications were received. In the re-allocation of cancelled mines, the central government has put 36 blocks for the allotment process, under which it will allot mines to state and public sector companies (PSUs) which lost theirs to the Supreme Court judgment in August 2014. Some were combined to ease the process, shortening the list of mines to 23.

The list of blocks for allotment had only one for end-use in the steel sector; the others are for power generation.

The applications citing the technical expertise of the interested parties were opened by the nominated authority of the re-allocation, under the ministry of coal. The winners recommended by the ministry of coal, would be announced on February 23.

Gare Palma–II, with a mineable reserve of 768 million tonnes, got applications from nine companies — NTPC, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Company, Gujarat State Electricity Corporation, Madhya Pradesh State Power Generation Company, Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company, UP Rajya Vidyut Nigam, Maharashtra State Power Generation Company, Singareni Collieries and Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Company.

NTPC has applied for Gare Palma-III, with 200 mt capacity, and the Chatti Baratu, Manoharpur and Kerandari blocks. It lost all these in the de-allocation order.

For Barjora and Gangaramchak in West Bengal, the sole bidder is West Bengal Power Distribution Company. The Kagru Joydev block in Bengal saw a single application, from Bihar State Power Generation Company.

The one coal block for the steel sector is Sitanala in Jharkhand and the sole bidder is Steel Authority of India.

National Aluminium Company has given a technical application for a block kept for the power sector, indicating its interest in thermal power generation. So has Tehri Hydro Dam Corporation, with an application for the Mahanadi+Machchhakata blocks.