Govt clears bill on mines auction to replace coal ordinance

03 Dec 2014 Evaluate

The government has cleared a bill on coal block auctions to replace the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance 2014 circulated to begin the sale of mines cancelled by the Supreme Court. The bill is likely to be brought before Parliament in the ongoing winter session.

In September, the Supreme Court had cancelled allocation of 204 coal blocks, which include 42 operational mines and another 32 ready-to-start blocks. Through the ordinance, the government had already started the process of auctioning at least 74 operational or ready-to-operate blocks. Further, the government set target to allocate blocks by March, well before the deadline set by the Supreme Court for companies operating the mines to wind up operations. The enactment of the new law would end any uncertainty about the auction process and also bring about a significant change as it has an enabling provision for commercial mining of coal by private companies

The government planned to auction 74 coal mines, having potential produce 210 million tonnes of coal, to specific end-users in the first phase of bidding on February 11, 2015. It had already stated that 74 coal mines out of 204 quashed mines by Supreme Court will not require any green clearances. The e-auction of coal blocks will have a two-stage tender process of technical and financial bids and the number of mines a company can bid will be capped to avoid monopoly.

Indian domestic coal demand is around 35 percent higher than domestic supply. The government aimed to double the domestic coal production to 1 billion tonnes in the next five years. The move will help to increase domestic coal production, which has severely lagged demand from power sector in recent years.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×