Govt to offer over 107 coal blocks for auction in near future: Coal Minister.

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi recently said that the government will make available more than 107 coal blocks for commercial mining through the auction route in the near future.

Joshi pointed out that the Indian economy is growing at a very fast pace and coal based power generation has recorded a 16.8 per cent increase this year and production of domestic coal has gone up by 22 per cent. By the year 2030 India’s coal requirement will be 1.5 billion tonnes.

The Minister spoke about the development at an event where the Ministry signed agreements with successful bidders for 16 coal mines under sale of coal of 13th tranche, 14th tranche and second attempt of the 12th tranche. So far, the government has allocated 43 coal mines, since the launch of commercial coal mining in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, 2020.

“The total annual revenue generation from these three tranches of commercial auction is estimated at ₹4,286.53 crore considering production at aggregated Peak Rate Capacity level of 23.77 million tonnes per annum (MTPA),‘‘ Coal Ministry said in a release.

Once fully operational, these coal mines are expected to generate employment for 31,954 persons directly and indirectly. A total investment of ₹3,565.50 crore will be incurred to operationalise these mines, it added.

The successful bidders include MP Natural Resources, Mahanadi Mines and Minerals, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), Assam Mineral Development Corporation, BS Ispat and Jindal Steel and Power.

The Minister said the Coal Ministry is targeting a coal production of 900 mt in FY23, and the target for Coal India (CIL) comes to 700 mt.

Joshi noted that during the last four months the coal mining behemoth has set a new record by producing around 207 mt of the key commodity, the mainstay for India’s power generation.

The all India domestic coal production in FY22 stood at 778.19 mt compared to 716.083 mt in FY21 with the growth of about 8.67 per cent.

HBL