A R DAS / NEW DELHI
Coal Ministry has launched the auction process of 40 new coal mines. The Ministry said, a total of 88 coal mines are on offer, out of these 40 are new coal mines whereas the remaining 48 coal mines are roll over mines from the earlier round of auctions. The total geological resources of about 55 billion tonnes of coal are on offer, of which 57 are fully explored mines and 31 are partially explored mines.
The Ministry said, there are four coking coal mines on offer. The mines are spread across ten coal bearing states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi stressed that government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are on a continuous journey to reform the coal sector and unlock values for the nation’s economy. He said, the demand of power has increased by around 20 percent compared to pre-Covid times. The Minister emphasized that India is currently one of the lowest in terms of per capita consumption of power as compared to the developed countries. He said, the power demand of the country is expected to be doubled by the year 2040 owing to the major steps taken by the Government in connecting the remotest of the places with power.
The Minister also announced that the earlier rebate of 20 per cent on the final offer on sale or consumption of coal for coal gasification, may be increased. The Minister also informed that discussions are in progress for incentives for the coking coal blocks. These steps will help in increasing the participation of prospective bidders.