Coal Ministry opens bids for 12th round of commercial coal block auction

The Ministry of Coal's Nominated Authority opened bids for the 12th round of commercial coal block auctions, excluding six underground blocks, on Monday. A total of 41 bids were received for 11 out of the 22 coal blocks on offer.

 

The online bids were decrypted and opened electronically in the presence of participating companies, followed by the opening of sealed offline documents. The process was conducted in full view of the bidders.

 

In the 12th round, 38 bids were received for eight blocks. Separately, three blocks under the second attempt of the 11th round received one bid each.

 

Among the blocks, Phutamura received the highest number of bids at 13. It is a non-coking coal block located within the Mand-Raigarh coalfield in Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh, and was offered under the 12th round.

 

Other blocks that received bids in the 12th round include Chitarpur (Revised), Cholapathar, Mahuagarhi, Mandakini B, Patal East (Western Part), Tambia South, and West of Tubed. 

 

Under the 11th round’s second attempt, bids were received for Jawardaha South, Margo East, and Margo West.

 

A total of 27 companies submitted bids in this round, with over 10 firms participating for the first time. Some of the companies include Adas Mining and Infra Pvt Ltd, Alom Solar Pvt Ltd, Amalgam Steel and Power Ltd, Damodar Valley Corporation, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, NLC India Limited, Oriental Quarries and Mines Pvt Ltd, Penna Shipping Limited, and Jharkhand Exploration and Mining Corporation Limited. The number of bids submitted per company ranged from one to four.

 

"The coal sector will continue to fuel the economy to become the third-largest economy in the world," the Ministry of Coal said in a press release.

 

The government said that the bids will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary technical evaluation committee and technically qualified bidders will be shortlisted for participation in the electronic auction, which will be conducted on the official auction platform, the MSTC portal.