The government would rationalise the slew of taxes on the coal to make prices competitive against imported coal. “This should be done keeping in view the government’s import substitution targets and make the second round of coal blocks auction more attractive by enabling prices of commercial coal to be competitive in the open market,” said M. Nagaraju, additional secretary, ministry of coal.
The second round of auction is likely to take place in January. The number of blocks to be given for auction has not been decided as yet because the ministry is conducting stage -1 trial with the blocks, Nagaraju said adding that more researched coal blocks would offer for the second round of auction.
