While the first round of auction under the new commercial coal mining policy in November last year elicited only modest response, the government has re-packaged the blocks on offer under the second round by minimising the risks to potential investors.
The Union coal ministry is planning to offer 64 new mines, with reserves of 30,505 million tonnes (MT) of the fuel, for the second tranche of the commercial coal auctions. To allay the fears of investors regarding environmental norms, the government has excluded mines falling in wildlife reserves and blocks in areas where there is more than 40% green cover.
The mines to be tentatively offered comprise about 9% of the 3.4 lakh MT of total coal reserve in the country. State-run Coal India owns blocks with combined reserves of 60,000 MT.
