Govt, steel cos to brainstorm on poor response to coal auction

The government will hold deliberations with steel companies this week to examine the reasons for poor response to fifth round of coal mines auction which was annulled.
The meeting is scheduled for September 15, the Coal Ministry said in a notice.
"In order to assess/discuss the bottlenecks/reason for low response, Secretary (Coal) has desired to hold a meeting with the prospective bidders from the Steel industry," it said, adding that the prospective bidders are requested to be present at the meeting.
"...Auction of coking coal mines, namely Brahmadiha, Choritand Tilaia, Jogeshwar & Khas Jogeshwar, Rabodih OCP, Rohne and Urtan North, earmarked for end use production of iron & steel for which tender process initiated under 5th tranche had been terminated," it said.

Six coking coal blocks were to go under the hammer in the fifth round, five of which are in Jharkhand and one in Madhya Pradesh.
The coal block auction had to be annulled last month as there was not good response from the bidders because the steel industry is in a bad shape.

In December 2015 as well, the government had annulled the fourth round of coal mine auctions planned for January 2016 on account of tepid response from bidders in sectors such as steel besides depressed commodity prices and adverse market conditions.
The Centre earlier announced that it would auction six coking coal mines.

The move was seen as an attempt to augment the supply of the fuel used for steel-making, to cater to the growing demand.
According to an official, the entire demand of metallurgical coal is not met indigenously as the supply of high quality coking coal in the country is limited. Thus, no option is left other than importing of such fuel.