The centre has decided to auction 27 coal blocks to private companies who can sell 25% of the produce in the open market at a premium of 15% over their bid price for winning these blocks. Rest of the coal is meant for captive consumption intended for iron & steel, cement, captive power plants.
Financial bidding are to be held between 10th October and 8th November while final allotments are likely to happen by November 11 according to the timeline prepared by the centre.
Blocks would be auctioned in three tranches – 8th, 9th and 10th. Under the 8th tranche, 20 blocks are on offer and it is for iron & steel, cement and captive power plants, excluding steel makers using coking coal.
Under the 8th Tranche, the centre is offering a total of 20 blocks, 10 blocks from Maharashtra, four each from Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. One each are from Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh
The 9th Tranche of blocks on offer includes 6 blocks for iron and steel producers only. Under this tranche the centre has offered 5 blocks from Jharkhand and from Madhya Pradesh.
The 10th Tranche is for a single block meant for iron & steel, cement and captive power plants, excluding steel makers using coking coal. The centre has offered only one block from Odisha under this tranche.
Last year, the centre had floated tenders for auctions blocks for commercial mining under Tranche 6 and 7. However, these were cancelled as bidder wanted more time and elections were nearing.
