Coal news and updates

3 blocks put up for competitive bidding cancelled

August 7: The Ministry of Coal (MoC) has decided to cancel the auction of three captive coal blocks which were put up for competitive bidding from the private sector but received poor response.

Noting that only two bids were received for the three blocks, coal minister Piyush Goyal said that with the approval of “competent authority”, it has been decided to cancel the above mentioned auction.

Instead of going ahead with the process, the government would like to revisit the issues concerning prior clearances etc, the minister said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, the three blocks – Jhirki & Jhirki (West) in Jharkhand, Andal Babuisol in West Bengal and Tokisud-II in Jharkhand – were put up for auction through competitive bidding for specified end-users, ie, steel, sponge iron and cement.

However, CMPDI, the executing agency, received only two bids for one block. Subsequently, ICMW had reported that the government was likely to scrap the tender in view of the poor response from the end-user industries.