Bhubaneswar: A total of 67 coal blocks, including 14 from Odisha, will go under the hammer in the second tranche of commercial coal mining auction.
This is the highest number of mines on offer in a particular tranche after the commencement of the bidding regime since 2014.
“The coal mines on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully and partially explored mines spread across six states: Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh,” the Coal Ministry said in a statement.
While 37 of them have been fully explored, the rest have been partially explored, it added.
The Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government is moving towards adopting a ‘rolling auction’ mechanism in the furture. Coal is the first mineral resource where the Rolling Auction mechanism is being implemented, in which a pool of coal blocks will always remain available for auctions.
