On Oct 25, 2018, the coal ministry invited tenders seeking bids for 19 captive coal blocks to non-power plants in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The government has allowed captive coal block owners to sell 25 per cent of their production in open market and provided some flexibility in coal output as it kick-started a fresh round of captive coal auctions after a gap of about 15 months.
