Coal blocks auction to private firms in this fiscal: Coal secretary

Auction of coal blocks to private companies will take place within the current financial year, a senior official said Monday.

"There are a lot of issues which have to be resolved and definitely we would like to do it (coal block auctions) in this financial year," Coal Secretary S.K. Srivastava told mediapersons on the sidelines of a conference on re-energising the coal sector organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier indicated that the auction of blocks would begin in December.

Disclosing that the ministry "will come out with a substantial number of blocks" for auction, Srivastava said that since the government will have to fix the auction floor price, it would only be allotting explored blocks.

The exploration of identified blocks are at an advanced stage and are likely to be completed soon.

The coal ministry has asked the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute, a subsidiary of state miner Coal India, to assess the reserves of four more mines and submit its report by next year.

The union cabinet has already approved the methodology for auctioning coal blocks and providing for upfront and production-linked payments.

The policy provides for a production-linked payment on a rupee per tonne basis and an upfront payment of 10 percent of the coal block's intrinsic value.

The ministry had recently announced that blocks will be put up for auction after the environment ministry reviews them and bidders agree to a minimum work programme.

The government has already allocated 17 coal mines to central and state public sector units.