NEW DELHI: India’s first ever commercial coal auction is expected to generate about Rs 7,000 crore annually for five states of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattigarh and Maharashtra, coal minister Pralhad Joshi said on Monday. The maximum revenue is expected to be earned by the Jharkhand government, which moved the Supreme Court against holding of the coal mines auction by the central government. The Jharkhand government will garner Rs 2,690 crore, followed Madhya Pradesh government (Rs 1,724 crore), Odisha (Rs 1,059 crore) , Chhattisgarh (Rs 842 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 321 crore).
The last day of coal block auction for private companies ended on a high note with Sarda Energy & Minerals Ltd placing a record bid for Gare Palma 4/7 mine at 66.75 per cent, surpassing seven other bidders including Adani Enterprises, Hindalco Industries and JSW Steel. The coal mine has a reserve of 239 million tonnes and 1.2 million tonnes per annum capacity. This is the highest revenue share offered by any bidder in the first tranche of commercial coal mine auctions that has seen participation from 40 private and two public sector firms. Overall, a total of 19 coal mines were auctioned.
Among others the Aditya Birla group companies placed maximum highest bids for three coal mines, followed by two mines each were bid highest by Adani group companies, and two new players — JMS Mining and Aurobindo Realty and Infra. Vedanta and JSPL have placed the highest bids for just one coal mine each.The commercial coal auction was based on revenue sharing formula, interestingly the smaller mines with new bidders saw more aggression on bids than the bigger coal mines and the companies.
Almost 65 per cent bidders were from the ‘non-end user’.While launching the auctions, it was broadly
expected that investors related to mining, power and clean coal sectors would explore opportunities. But it is interesting to note that participants in the bidding process also include players from several other sectors like Real Estate, Infrastructure, Pharma, etc,” Joshi noted. The minister also claimed that the commercial mining will create an employment opportunity for about 69,000 across these five states.