Commercial mining: Govt receives 53 bids for 20 coal mines auctioned under Tranche III

• There are a total of 37 companies that have bid for the 20 coal blocks on offer
• Namchik Namphuk coal mine in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh has received the highest number of bids at 12

New Delhi: The Central government said on Wednesday that it has received 53 bids for 20 coal mines under Tranche III of commercial coal mine auctions. A total of 88 coal mines were put up for auction by the Ministry of Coal under the third tranche. "A total of 53 (Fifty Three) bids have been received for 20 (twenty) coal mines of which 16 (sixteen) are fully explored mines and 4 (four) are partially explored mines," the Ministry of Coal said in an official statement.

"The auction process of 88 coal mines for sale of coal was launched by the Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal on October 12, 2021. The last date of submission of Technical Bid was December 14, 2021. As part of the auction process, Technical Bids comprising of online and offline bid documents were opened here today (December 15, 2021) in the presence of the bidders," the ministry added.

Hindalco, Mahandi Mines, Jindal Power, Vedanta among bidders

The highest number of bids (three) have been put in by Hindalco Industries Limited, Mahanadi Mines & Minerals Pvt Ltd, Assam Mineral Development Corporation Limited, Coal Pulz Pvt Ltd and Mahalaxmi Continental Ltd. Tamil Nadu state government-owned power generation and distribution company TANGEDCO has also thrown its hat in the ring and has put in two bids. Other bidders who have put in at least two bids includes Vedanta Limited, Jindal Power Limited, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, Auro Coal Private Limited and Amaltas Aviation Services Pvt Ltd. The rest of the bidders have submitted one bid each. There are a total of 37 companies that have bid for the 20 coal blocks on offer. 

2 or more bids received for 10 coal mines

Two or more bids have been received for 10 coal mines. Out of the 20 coal mines on offer, two are coking coal mines and the remaining 18 mines are non-coking coal mines. Namchik Namphuk coal mine in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh has received the highest number of bids at 12 followed by Utkal C coal mine in Talcher coalfields, Angul district, Odisha, which has received seven bids.

"The online bids were decrypted and opened electronically in the presence of the bidders. Subsequently, sealed envelopes containing offline bid documents were also opened in the presence of bidders," said the Ministry of Coal.

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