Coal auction hits legal hurdle, two mines withdrawn

Coal auction hits legal hurdle, two mines withdrawn

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 11:22 PM IST
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New Delhi : Coal auctions ran into legal tangles today with the government deferring bids for one mine in Jharkhand where giants like Hindalco, Vedanta and JSPL were in the fray, while another block was withdrawn from the ongoing third round of bidding, reports PTI.

The government deferred the auction of Chitarpur coal mine in Jharkhand because of a court case, which was scheduled to start on Wednesday. The other coal block — Parbatpur Central Coal Mine in Jharkhand — has been withdrawn from the process on representation that it contains gas.

The date of e-auction of Chitarpur Coal Mine, the notice said, will be intimated later. “Parbatpur Central mine would not be auctioned as it is a gassy mine and therefore, we have got a representation that it should be withdrawn,” an official said.

Companies like Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Vedanta were in the fray for Chitarpur coal mine after qualifying technical bidding. Firms like JSW Steel, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, SAIL were in the fray for Parbatpur Central Coal Mine.  The situation leaves only the Majra mine in Maharashtra up for bidding on Thursday in the ongoing third round of auction of coal blocks whose allotments were cancelled last September by the Supreme Court.  Marki Mangli-I mine, with extractable reserves of 9.96 million tonnes (MT), was unsold in the previous round. Bhaskarpara’s extractable reserves are 24.06 MT.

The auctions, so far, have garnered around Rs.200,000  crore revenue for the states, Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha recently.

Apart from an estimated revenue of Rs.1,71,961 crore from 29 coal mines already auctioned, royalty of Rs.20,620 crore and upfront payment of Rs.930 crore accrues to the states, he said.

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