Coal news and updates

Coal auction: Day 4 rakes in over Rs 6K cr

The government on Sunday auctioned three coal blocks to garner over Rs 6,000 crore taking the total proceeds from the auction of mines to over Rs 1.5 crore.

The bidding lasted for over twelve hours on the fourth day of second tranche of ongoing auction. Ambuja Cement clinched Gare-Palma Sector-IV/8 block in Chhattisgarh at Rs 2,291 a tonne, Jaypee Cement Corporation bagged Mandla-South block in Madhya Pradesh at Rs 1,852 per tonne while GMR bagged the Ganeshpur mine at Rs 704 a tonne.

“Gare Palma IV/8 closes at (Rs) 2,291. Ambuja Cements is highest bidder. Jaypee Cement highest bidder at (Rs) 1852 for Mandla South. GMR bids highest for Ganeshpur block,” coal secretary Anil Swarup said.
hese three mines would contribute over Rs 6,000 crore to the state exchequer. The government generated a revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore till yesterday that included over Rs 1 lakh crore from auction of 19 mines in the first round.

Auction for Ganeshpur block, which is for power sector, began at 11 am with Rs 100 bid. For Mandla South, the auction began at Rs 1,850 per tonne while for Gare Palma IV/8, it started at Rs 1,675 per tonne. The blocks sold in the second tranche include Dumri, Tara, Nerad Malegaon, Mandakini, Meral, Jitpur, Moitra, Brinda and Sasai. In the second leg of the coal block auction, government has put up 15 blocks for sale, which are under the ‘ready-to-operate category.The auctions follow the Supreme Court’s decision last year to cancel the allocation of 204 coal mines.

source: http://indianexpress.com