{"id":107966,"date":"2021-02-25T11:51:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T11:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=107966"},"modified":"2021-02-25T11:51:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T11:51:13","slug":"75-coal-mines-to-go-under-the-hammer-in-second-round-of-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/75-coal-mines-to-go-under-the-hammer-in-second-round-of-auction\/","title":{"rendered":"75 coal mines to go under the hammer in second round of auction"},"content":{"rendered":"
In order to keep the interest of new and small players intact, the coal ministry is offering only small- and medium-sized coal mines in the second round.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n As many as 75 mines will go under the hammer in the second round of auction of commercial coal mines.<\/p>\n Thirty-eight mines were on offer in the first round, of which 19 were sold.<\/p>\n Out of the 75 mines, 70 are coking mines, used in the thermal power generation sector and five are non-coking mines for steel and metals sector.<\/p>\n There are 40 mines that have already been explored with the remaining being partially explored.<\/p>\n Chhattisgarh accounts for the highest number of mines, followed by Jharkhand and Odisha.<\/p>\n In the first round, Madhya Pradesh had the highest number of mines.<\/p>\n Last year, the Centre allowed private firms to commercially mine and sell coal– 47 years after coal mining was nationalised in India.<\/p>\n The government amended the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, in May to open up the coal auction for non-mining, MSMEs and foreign firms.<\/p>\n The two-part auction concluded in November.<\/p>\n In order to keep the interest of new and small players intact, the coal ministry is offering only small- and medium-sized coal mines in the second round.<\/p>\n Most of the mines offered have been evaluated to not fall in eco-sensitive zones, Business Standard<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n The ministry of coal, in a stakeholders’ discussion, said blocks\/ mines having over 40 per cent of green cover have been excluded.<\/p>\n “Blocks\/ mines falling under un-notified Lemru Elephant Reserve of Chhattisgarh, wildlife habitat of Great Indian Bustard, Kinnersani ESZ, Tiger Reserve\/ Corridor, heavily built-up areas, etc. have been excluded,” said a presentation by the ministry.<\/p>\n The officials also informed that mines which are under litigation have also been excluded.<\/p>\n “We used the decision support system (DSS) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to identify forest cover near and around the mines.<\/p>\n “The mines with thick forest cover and are in eco-sensitive zones have been kept in abeyance.<\/p>\n “For now, we are offering small mines which do not have large land banks and forest cover,” a senior official said, last month.<\/p>\n In the first round of auctions, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh protested against some mines which were in eco-sensitive zones.<\/p>\n One mine each from Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh were removed from the first phase as they were near a tiger reserve and river bank.<\/p>\n The Union coal ministry would also offer new mines which were not part of the original list of 205 mines, whose allocation were cancelled by the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n Officials said mines under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 will be offered.<\/p>\n