Jindal Power, JSW Steel, Ambuja Cement, as well as UltraTech Cement, have been named winners of coal mines in the newest auction which closed.
The union ministry of coal launched the auctions of coal mines for commercial mining under the sixth round and the second attempt of the fifth round on the third of November 2023, the biggest tranche of the auction of commercial coal mines, which has drawn to a close on Thursday. In the auctions held a cumulative 29 coal mines were successfully auctioned.
Among the major players, Jindal Power Ltd bagged two mines in Chhattisgarh, JSW Steel won three mines in Jharkhand and Ambuja Cements picked a mine in Maharashtra under the auctions, showed a statement from the ministry.
Out of the 29 mines in auctions, 22 coal mines are fully explored coal mines and seven coal mines are partially explored coal mines. The total geological reserves for these 29 coal mines are 8160 million tonnes. The cumulative PRC for these coal mines is 74.96 MTPA (excluding partially explored coal mines). The auctions witnessed strong competition, with a lot of first-time bidders in this round and an average revenue share of 22.12 %.
“This is a testament to the continued interest in the coal mining sector and the stable future of coal mining in India. This also signifies that the reforms brought in by the Government in the coal sector through the introduction of commercial coal mining have been well received by the industry," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, coal production from these mines would significantly reduce the demand for imported thermal coal and will also reduce dependence on public-sector coal mining companies. The commercial coal mine auctions will create value for society in the form of job creation and infrastructure development in the coal-bearing areas and also make a sizeable contribution to the state’s revenues with Annual Revenue generation of Rs 14,650 crores (excluding partially explored coal mines) calculated at PRC of these coal mines.
It is expected that these auctions shall result in a capital investment of approximately Rs 11,250 crore and employment generation for around one lakh people.
