Companies raise concerns on commercial mining rules, financing troubles

The ministry of coal has released a probable list of 84 mines which will be offered for auction. They have geological reserves of 22,360 million tonne

Leading mining, power, and metals companies raised several concerns in the upcoming auction of coal mines for commercial purpose at a meeting with the coal ministry. In the stakeholders’ consultation held in Mumbai on Wednesday, several sector majors said seeking financing for commercial mining would be a major issue. “Investors told the coal ministry officials it would be difficult to get finance for bid security and upfront amount,” said an executive, who was part of the meeting. The upfront amount to be paid by the mine developer would be 0.5 per cent of the value of estimated resources of the