Commercial coal block auction: Vedanta wins Kuraloi (A) North coal block in Odisha

• Vedanta had offered 15.25 percent revenue sharing for the coal block which 
• Kuraloi (A) North coal block was being auctioned as part of the Centre's second attempt under tranche I of commercial coal block auction

New Delhi: The Centre has awarded the Kuraloi (A) North coal block in Jharsuguda district of Odisha to Vedanta Ltd, the Ministry of Coal announced on Saturday. Vedanta had offered 15.25 percent revenue sharing for the coal block which was being auctioned as part of the Centre's second attempt under tranche I of commercial coal block auction. Vedanta was the only bidder for the block which the government had failed to auction in the first attempt. 

Kuraloi (A) North coal block

The Kuraloi (A) North coal block has a geological reserve of 1,680.226 million tonnes (MT). The tentative peak rated mine capacity for the coal block is 8 MTY. Vedanta has an aluminium smelter in Jharsuguda with an annual capacity of 1.6 MT. The smelter also has a 3,615 MW thermal power plant for captive use.

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The backdrop

This is the third coal block bagged by Vedanta after Jamkhani coal block in 2019 and Radhikapur West coal block in the commercial coal block auction held in 2020. The other two blocks are also located in Odisha. In FY2020-21, Vedanta's aluminium and power vertical consumed around 22 million tonnes of coal, which was primarily sourced from Coal India Ltd (CIL).

With the second tranche of commercial auction of coal mines, the government has declared its intention of moving towards a rolling auction mechanism, wherein any un-auctioned mine shall remain available for auction on the portal, with more mines being added as and when available.

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