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Shell companies also in the fray for coal blocks, especially easily accessible ones

 In the list of companies bidding for the 23 coal blocks up for auction, several shell companies too, have marked their presence. Plus the high number of bidders for the remote but rich coal blocks is a surefire indicator of the stiff competition to expect in the auctions due next weekend.

In the list put out by the auctioneers for the mines government owned MSTC, there are at least seven companies with a paid up capital of only Rs 1 lakh each, the minimum needed to secure a registration. These firms have shown interest along with 57 other firms which have clear business interests in the coal sector. So along with well known names there are companies with interesting names like Water Hyacinth Commosale, Eastern Range Coal Mining and Sheesham Commercial.

The bids by them are restricted to the easily accessible mines like those connected by railways and whose coal reserves are large but explored.

The actual picture about the bidders will be known once the results of the technical bids are declared on Thursday. To ensure safety the big companies have put in multiple bids often for the same blocks taking the total to 174. An examination of these block wise bids show that for the rich but difficult blocks the competition has been intense among the big players, even though they are all located far from rail lines.

There are 11 bids for Chotia coal block in Hasdeo Arand area of Chhattisgarh with 24 MT of extractable reserves even though it is 100 kilometers from a rail head. Former Coal India chairman Partha Bhattacharya explained that despite the difficult logistics which impacts those whose end-use plants are quite some distance away from the mines, the quality of the coal and the difficulty of extracting are more significant.

“For instance there is only one bid for Parbatpur Central, with reserves at 52.2 MT. The mine is an underground one but Gare Palma blocks are all open cast,” he pointed out.

Source: Indian Express