Centre To Auction Tranche Of 141 Mines Covering 11 Coal-bearing States

Ministry of Coal on Thursday said that the biggest tranche of 141 mines covering the eleven coal-bearing states is being offered for auction.

The announcement comes on the heels of successful auction of 64 coal mines in the first five tranches. Ministry of Coal had launched the process for auction of 133 coal mines under 6th round of commercial auctions of which 71 coal mines are new coal mines and 62 coal mines are rolling over from earlier tranches of commercial auctions held in November 2022. Additionally, eight coal mines under 2nd attempt of 5th round of commercial auctions were also launched where single bids were received in the first attempt.

Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said, “Our requirement for coal is increasing, our total dispatch in 2013-14 was 572 million tons, last year it was 817 million tons, this year it will be 900 million tons. Despite this, domestic production will not be able to fulfill full coal demand.” 

He said that the total domestic coal production will be 1 billion tonnes, and the total demand would be 1,300-1,400 million tonnes.  

Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi also informed that power demand will become double by 2040. Stating that the country’s energy security is quite important, he said, “Even if we produce 50 per cent of that from renewable sources, we would need around 1.5 billion tonnes of coal, hence there is no need to worry about future of coal”. 

The Union Minister stated that the country’s target is 100 million tonnes of gasification by 2030.  Towards achieving this end of sustainable coal mining, 50 per cent rebate in commercial coal mining for minimum 10 per cent use in gasification has been given, he added. Also, Rs 6,000 crore has been earmarked under PLI scheme, coal gasification has been incentivized and removal of entry barriers has attracted new players to the industry, stated Prahlad Joshi.

Additionally, Ministry of Coal has offered 13 coal blocks from the state of Maharashtra for auction. Out of these, 5 are fully explored and 8 are partially explored mines, informed Union Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Minister Prahlad Joshi at an investor conclave in Mumbai today.