New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal said on Monday that it has received a total of 38 bids during three rounds of commercial coal mines' auctions. The online bids received as part of the auction process will be opened on June 28 from 10 AM onwards in the presence of interested prospective bidders, the Coal Ministry said in a statement. "The last date for the submission of online technical bids for all the coal mines was 1200 hours on June 27, 2022 and offline submission was 1600 hours on June 27, 2022," it said.
According to the Coal Ministry statement, a total of 28 offline bids were received against 15 coal mines under fifth tranche of commercial coal mines' auction. Under second attempt of third tranche, a total of nine coal mines were put up for sale and six bids were received against them, the statement said.
Under the second attempt of the fourth round, a total of four coal mines were put up for auctions and four bids have been received against three coal mines, said the Coal Ministry.
The fifth round, second attempt of fourth and third tranche of commercial coal mine auctions, were launched by the government in March.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining in 2020, saying that this is a major step in making India self-reliant in energy sector. Coal accounts for around 75 percent of India's total power generation. With India witnessing an unprecedented rise in its power demand every year, the power sector has been facing a coal crisis for the last two years in a row. It has made it necessary for India to increase its coal production.
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