Coal auction: Essar wins mine, states gain Rs.60,000 crore

On day five of the auction of coal blocks whose allotments were cancelled by the Supreme Court, the Essar Group won its first mine, even as poorer states stand to gain nearly Rs.60,000 crore from blocks sold in the ongoing auction.

"Essar Power MP Ltd won the Tokisud North mine (Jharkhand) for the power sector. The price at which the mine closed was Rs.1,110 per tonne," a coal ministry official said here Wednesday.

With the highest bid for the block, Essar beat companies like Adani Power, Jindal Power, Balco, D B Power, Dhariwal Infrastructure, GMR Chhattisgarh Energy, GVK Power Goindwal Sahib and Jaiprakash Power Ventures.

States including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal are to get around Rs.59,000 crore from blocks sold in the ongoing auction.

"These are estimates. The revenue to be accrued to the states would be to the tune of about Rs.59,000 crore and this we are taking for about 11 mines (auctioned till Tuesday)," Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told reporters.

Wednesday also saw Gare Palma IV/5 block in Chhattisgarh on offer.

GMR Chhattisgarh Energy, Reliance Cement, Sunflag Iron and Steel, CESC, Hindalco Industries, Jaiprakash Associates and BALCO are among the companies that bagged 11 coal mines in the previous four days of auction.

The government has put 19 blocks on sale in the first lot. The last day for the auction of the first lot of mines is Feb 22. The Supreme Court had in September last year cancelled the allotment of 214 mines allotted between 1993 and 2010.