Commercial mining: UN secretary general expresses concern over ongoing coal auctions

After the government recently launched the maiden auction for 40 coal blocks for commercial mining, Antonio Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, said on Friday that such a “strategy will only lead to further economic contraction and damaging health consequences”. While delivering the 19th Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture organised by Teri, Guterres said, “In India, 50% of coal capacities will be uncompetitive in 2022, reaching 85% by 2025.” He added that “the coal business is going up in smoke”. Expressing his concerns about the “continued support for fossil fuels in so many places around the world”, Guterres said that “we have seen countries doubling down on domestic coal and opening up coal auctions”.

The government has recently amended several rules to make the coal mines more attractive for private players in the upcoming auctions, and has offered some blocks falling in areas which had been earlier designated as ‘no-go zones’. This would also be the first set of coal assets to be auctioned off for selling the fuel in the open market. The government estimates that the country will need 892 million tonne of the fuel in FY30 — around 40% higher than current levels — for power generation.