The Odisha Government on Tuesday requested the Central Government to defer the coal block auction process by three months in view of the unfavourable market situation due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
In a letter to Union Coal Minister Prahlad Joshi, State Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik said, “The coal trading has been adversely affected by COVID-19 outbreak, the market value of coal has significantly gone down in comparison to the last year.”
“If the auction process will be allowed at this time then the government may not be able to get better price of natural mineral resources as there are chances that the highest bidding price for these mine blocks will be low.
