After a long gap of four years and amid rising coal imports, the Centre on Thursday allocated five captive coal mines to private companies. The respective state governments will fetch a total of Rs 17,136 crore over 30 years as revenue to be shared by the successful bidders (see chart). Since late 2015, the government had cancelled three auctions due to lack of investor interest. In early 2015, as many as 31 blocks were allocated through competitive bidding.
The latest round of auctions is the first since the Cabinet, in February 2019, allowed private companies to sell up to 25% of production from captive coal mines in the open market. Interest was shown for six blocks against the 27 mines put up for bidding by the coal ministry. An earlier Cabinet approval (February 2018) allowing commercial mining by the private sector had failed to lure investors.
