Bids for commercial auction of coal blocks can be submitted till Friday

New Delhi: The bids for the commercial auction of coal blocks can be submitted by Friday, the Union Ministry of Coal said on Tuesday.
The ministry launched the sixth tranche and the second attempt of the previous commercial coal mines auction for 141 coal mines on November 3, 2022. "In accordance with the timelines, bidders can submit their bids online on the electronic platform by 12:00 hours up to January 13, 2023 and physically by 16:00 hours on the same day. The bids shall be opened on Monday, January 16, 2023 at 10:00 hours in the presence of representatives of the bidders," the ministry said in a release.
The coal mines under the ongoing tranche have been selected considering the varied demands within the investor community; some of the coal mines have been resized based on the feedback of the industry to improve their attractiveness.
Separately, India's overall coal production increased 16.39 per cent so far in the financial year 2022-23 to 607.97 million tonnes, official data showed recently.
During the same period of the last financial year, the output was 522.34 million tonnes.
State-owned Coal India reported coal production of 479.05 million tonnes up to December, as compared to 413.63 million tonnes during the same period of last year, representing an increase of 15.82 per cent.
The Ministry of Coal has paved the way for releasing additional coal in the market by greater utilization of mining capacities of captive coal blocks which have led to increasing in production of coal by captive and other companies by 31.38 per cent to 81.70 million tonnes so far in 2022-23 as compared to 62.19 million tonnes produced during the corresponding period of last year.
With an objective to enhance the coal production capacity, it has put 141 new coal blocks for commercial auction and has been engaging regularly with various coal companies in the country and monitoring their production. (ANI)