The Government of India on March 25, 2021 launched its second Tranche of auction for commercial coal mining offering 67 mines for sale of coal.
- This is the highest number of mines on offer in a particular tranche of auction after commencement of the auction regime since 2014.
- Out of the total 67 mines offered by the Ministry of Coal, 23 mines are under CM(SP) Act and 44 under MMDR Act.
- The coal mines on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully and partially explored mines spread across 06 States Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
- Coal is the first mineral resource where Rolling Auction mechanism is being implemented in which a pool of coal blocks will always remain available for auctions.
- With rolling auctions, the government will upload a comprehensive list of mines along with key technical data and bidders can submit their preferences for the mines to be included in the next tranche of auction.
- According to the government, 19 mines were successfully auctioned in thefirst-ever tranche of commercial coal mining auctions held last year with the premium quoted by the successful bidders ranging from 9.5% to 66.75%.
