Commercial coal mining: Fairmine Carbons Pvt Ltd & Chowgule & Company win blocks on Day 4

• Fairmine Carbons Private Limited won the Rajhara North (Central & Eastern) coal block in Palamau district of Jharkhand

• Chowgule and Company Private Limited secured the Sahapur (East) coal block in Shahdol and Umaria districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP)

New Delhi: The e-auction process for commercial coal mining saw two small players taking the coal blocks on offer on Day 4. While Fairmine Carbons Private Limited won the Rajhara North (Central & Eastern) coal block in Palamau district of Jharkhand, Chowgule and Company Private Limited secured the Sahapur (East) coal block in Shahdol and Umaria districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP). The total geological reserves of the mines put up for auction are ~83.63 MT with a cumulative PRC of ~1.4 MTPA.

"The e-auction witnessed strong competition amongst the bidders with both the mines attracting good premiums over the floor price," said the Ministry of Coal in an official statement. While the Sahapur East coal block saw a final offer of 41 percent revenue-sharing, Rajhara North (Central & Eastern) coal block received a final offer of 23 percent. Adani Enterprises was also in the fray for Rajhara North (Central & Eastern) coal block.

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The government has so far auctioned 15 coal mines. The list of big players in the sector who have bagged coal blocks under these rounds are — Vedanta, Hindalco Industries, Jindal Power, and Aurobindo Reality and Infrastructure.

The backdrop

The Coal Ministry, in association with FICCI, launched the process for auction of these coal mines on June 18. The decision of opening up the coal sector for commercial mining was part of a series of announcements made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The Centre amended the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, in May to simplify the auction process and attract investors to the sector. The amendment removed the requirement for miners to use coal only for captive purposes and allowed commercial mining by private players. The step is aimed at raising the domestic production of coal in order to cut India's dependence on imports.

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