Hindalco bags Jharkhand coal mine on second day of auction

The Aditya Birla Group company Hindalco won the first block on the second day of the coal block auctions Sunday, as the aluminium-maker emerged as the highest bidder with Rs.2,860 per tonne for the Kathautia mine in Jharkhand.

"This would mean Rs.228 crore per annum in revenue for Jharkhand and Rs.6,800 crore for the mine-life which is 30 years," Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told reporters here.

"As part of the auction process, technical bids -- both online bids and offline supporting documents -- were opened today (Sunday) in the presence of bidders," the coal ministry said in a statement here.

On day two of the auctions, three blocks were on offer - Belagaon in Maharashtra, Kathautia in Jharkhand and Sarisatolli in West Bengal.

For Belagaon, reserved for the non-regulated sector, the qualified bidders include Bharat Aluminium Co (BALCO), Reliance Cement, Sunflag Iron and Steel and Topworth Urja and Metals.

For Sarisatolli, reserved for the power sector where the lowest bidder will win, the bidders qualified to participate in the financial round include Adani Power, CESC, GMR Chhattisgarh Energy, Haldia Energy and Sheesham Commercial.

Reliance Cement and GMR Group won the two blocks on offer on the first day of auctions.

The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Cement, emerging as the highest bidder, Saturday won the Sial Ghoghri mine in Madhya Pradesh containing 5.61 million tonne of reserves.

GMR's subsidiary GMR Chhatisgarh Energy won the Talabira I block with the lowest bid of Rs.478 per tonne for the mine reserved for the power sector.

The Supreme Court had in September last year cancelled the allotment of 214 mines allotted between 1993 and 2010.