Coal news and updates

Swarup gives deadline for auction of all 101 blocks

January 20: There has been an “encouraging’ response from companies interested in participating in the e-auction of captive coal blocks and the government has chalked out a well-planned strategy to complete the e-auction of all 101 such blocks that will be offered during the first three tranches, by the third week of April, Secretary (Coal) Anil Swarup has said.

The government plans to auction 42 blocks for captive purposes in the first tranche, 32 in the second tranche and 27 blocks in the third tranche.

The process for e-auction in the first tranche has already commenced. However, one block (Namchi Namphuk) from the planned 42 in the first tranche has been withdrawn due to some regulatory issues.

“We have, so far, seen a good response to the auction. Already, more than 100 tender documents have been procured by interested parties. I don’t have the details right now. I can go to the website and find out but the number is certainly more than 100 and this is very encouraging,” Swarup said.

Asked if there is a timeline to complete the auction of the blocks, the secretary (coal) said, “For these 101 blocks, all timelines have been defined. The first tranche would be over by March 31, 2015. The second by the first week of April and the third, by the third week of April.”

In the second phase, a total of 103 blocks would be offered, the auction of which would be completed by March 2016, he said.

This means, of the 204 coal blocks de-allocated after the Supreme Court verdict in September 2014, 101 will be e-auctioned by the third week of April and the balance 103 blocks, by March 2016.

Asked about the government’s plans to provide speedy environmental and forestry clearances for the development of these auctioned blocks, as a large number of these were held up because of delays in such clearances, Swarup said, “Hopefully, there will not be much of an occasion for this sort of a complaint now.”

“We are engaging with the Ministry of Environment and Forests through an institutional mechanism which is very proactive in terms of wherever clearances have to be given. The MoEF is also okay with the provisions and the clearances will be given quickly,” he said.

“But if the clearance cannot be given, the parties will be told upfront that it cannot be done. We are engaging with the MoEF through an institutional mechanism. Periodic exchange of notes is taking place between them and we will act as a facilitator in terms of getting those clearances even to the private sector,” Swarup said.

Asked whether there will be a timeline for providing environmental and forestry clearances to the e-auctioned blocks, the secretary (coal) said, “There is definitely a timeline. You are aware that there are clear-cut timelines for according both forest and environmental clearances. Not only that, one can apply for such clearances on the Net and you can actually monitor where it is going. In addition, we will also be monitoring these progresses very closely.”