Govt extends last date to submit bids under 7th tranche of coal auctions

The government has extended the last date to submit bids under the seventh round of commercial coal auctions till June 27, 2023, an official statement said Wednesday.

The government had earlier fixed May 30 as the last date to submit bids for the 106 coal mines that were put on the block in the latest round of auctions.

On March 29, the government launched the seventh round of commercial coal auctions in a bid to increase the availability of the dry fuel in the country.

In a statement, the Ministry of Coal said: "In view of requests received from a large number of potential bidders, it has extended the last date for bid submission by 28 days and now the last date for bid submission for the seventh round of auctions is 27.06.2023 which was 30.5.2023 earlier."

The ministry further said that so far 133 mines with cumulative peak rated capacity (PRC) of 540 million tonne per annum (MTPA) have been allocated/auctioned.

In order to facilitate the private players for early development of coal mines, the Ministry is providing necessary support in terms of land availability, environment/forest clearances, assistance from financial institutions, inter-agencies coordination, it said.

The ministry said it has targeted 162 MT production from captive/commercial mines during ongoing financial year.