40 New Coal Mines In 10 States Including Odisha Go Under Hammer; Total 88 On Offer

New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal on Tuesday launched the auction process of 40 new coal mines. With this, the number of total coal mines on offer has gone up to 88.

The ministry had auctioned 28 coal mines in the first two tranches. The latest auction includes 21 new mines under CM(SP) Act and 19 under the tranche 3 of MMDR Act, according to a ministry release.

Of the total mines, which include 4 coking coal mines, 57 are fully explored and 31 are partially explored. Those are spread across 10 coal bearing states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.

Total production of about 55 billion tonnes of coal are on offer from these mines. These mines will help generate around Rs 29,240 crore of annual revenue at PRC, capital investment of Rs 42,304 crore for operationalising the mines and provide employment to 3.81 lakh people.

The list of mines has been finalised after detailed deliberations and mines falling under protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, critical habitats, having forest cover greater than 40%, heavily built-up area have been excluded.

From this tranche onwards, the ministry has introduced provisions in the agreement related to sustainable mining operations, including mine closure; mechanised evacuation of coal and surrender of coal mine by successful bidder upon encountering difficult mining conditions.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister of Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs, Pralhad Joshi said the demand of power has increased by around 20% compared to pre-COVID times.

Stating that India is currently one of the lowest in terms of per capita consumption of power compared to developed countries, he said the power demand of the country is expected to double by 2040.