Bhubaneswar: The Ministry of Coal on Wednesday successfully completed the auction of three coal blocks, including one in Odisha.
Damodar Valley Corporation emerged as the highest bidder for the three non-cooking blocks – Pirpainti Barahat and Dhulia North in Jharkhand, and Mandakini-B in Odisha – in the 13th round of commercial coal mine auctions, which was launched on August 21 followed by forward auctions from November 20 to November 25.
Non-coking coal is primarily used for power generation and industrial purposes like cement and fertilizer production.
According to an official statement, these blocks are likely to attract a capital investment of nearly Rs 7,350 crore. “These three blocks are poised to generate annual revenue of approximately Rs 4,620.69 crore, and likely to attract capital investment of nearly Rs 7,350 crore, and create 66,248 employment opportunities,” it said.
The three fully explored coal blocks together hold geological reserves of approximately 3,306.58 million tonnes, with a cumulative Peak Rated Capacity (PRC) to produce 49 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
The Auctions So Far
The statement further stated that 136 coal blocks have been auctioned successfully, with a production capacity of 325.04 MTPA since the inception of commercial coal mining in 2020. “Once operational, these blocks will substantially enhance domestic coal production and advance the nation’s goal of becoming self-reliant in the coal sector. Collectively, these coal blocks are estimated to yield annual revenue of Rs 43,330 crore, mobilize capital investment of Rs 48,756 crore, and generate 4,39,447 employment opportunities across coal-bearing regions,” it added.
The coal ministry had put on sale 14 coal blocks in the 13th round of mines auction in August.
The Odisha Coal Block
Mandakini – B is located in Talcher Coalfields in Angul district. The block, which had extractable reserves of 1.2 billion tonnes of coal, was earlier allocated to NTPC Ltd to fuel the public sector firm’s first 4,000-Mw power plant in Telangana.
