The Ministry of Coal on Friday said it has commenced the process of auctions for 67 coal mines spread across Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, and Telangana. The launch, inaugurated here on Saturday by Union Minister of Coal and Mines, G. Kishan Reddy, marked the commencement of the process for the 10th tranche of commercial coal mine auctions. This includes both fully explored and partially explored mines, along with three coking coal mines.
To develop the coal sector for attaining national energy requirements, a series of reform measures have been undertaken by the Ministry. All mines falling within protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries and critical habitats, areas with over 40% forest cover, or heavily urbanized zones have been kept out in this tranche. Further, reserves of some coal mines located in densely populated areas, areas having more green cover, or falling under the zone of critical infrastructure have been modified to make it more attractive for auctioning.
Minister Reddy said that coal shall play the role of a pedestal on which industries will run, and it will be contributing towards a $5-trillion economy. He exhorted the coal entrepreneurs to join hands for nation-building with sensitivity to the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi: "To make India self-sufficient in coal production, thereby reducing the coal imports bill.".
Minister Reddy, expressing a need for more domestic coal production for growth in the economy, said, "Advancement in the coal sector today will pave the way for a brighter future." The revenue accrued from the auctioned coal blocks will go to the respective state governments and help in development works at the regional level.
Secretary Amrit Lal Meena underlined that there is an imperative need for increasing coal production in the light of ever-growing energy requirement, but that too must be in adherence to global practice on the question of ensuring workers' safety. He struck a note for strict adherence to environmental sustainability factors while mitigating the ecological impacts of coal mining.
Additional Secretary M Nagaraju pressed on the need to scour more coal blocks as demand is increasing, and added that for constant coal supply to industries, more private investment and expertise are required.
The auction process commenced by issuing tenders that went on sale, comprising the auction platform MSTC and on the website of the Ministry of Coal. Online auctions with a two-stage transparent process based on percentage revenue sharing would be held, endeavoring to bring in balkiness and effectiveness.
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