The Union government on Wednesday launched the special bid round 2021 for coal bed methane (CBM), offering 15 blocks spread across approximately 8,458 square kilometres. The auctions will be conducted according to the latest revenue-sharing terms of the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP), where the government’s revenue share is capped at 50%. CBM is natural gas contained in coal, consisting primarily of methane.
The government will hold a pre-bid conference on the auctions on October 22, and the bid submission window will be open between January 20, 2022 and February 20, 2022. Among the CBM blocks offered, five are in Madhya Pradesh, three in Chhattisgarh, two each in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha and one in West Bengal. No revenue will have to be shared with the government till ‘windfall gain’ — when revenue from the contract area exceeds $2.5 billion in a financial year — accrues to the contractor.
