Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, NLC India Ltd and Coal India-arm Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) are among the companies that have submitted bids for coal mines put on sale in the 12th round of commercial coal mine auction.
A total of 27 companies have submitted their bids in the auction process, the coal ministry said in a statement, adding that more than 10 new companies have participated for the first time under the auction.
Other companies which have submitted bids include Adas Mining and Infra Pvt Ltd, Alom Solar Pvt Ltd, Amalgam Steel and Power Ltd, AMPL Resources Pvt Ltd, Damodar Valley Corporation, Godawari Commodities Ltd, KSK Mahanadi Power Co Ltd, MSP Mines and Minerals Ltd, Nilkanth Special Minerals Pvt Ltd, Nuravi Infrastructure Projects Pvt Ltd, Oriental Quarries and Mines Pvt Ltd, Orissa Alloy Steel Pvt Ltd, Orissa Metallurgical Industry Pvt Ltd and Sunflag Iron & Steel Co Ltd, it said.
"The Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal today opened the bids for the 12th round of commercial coal blocks' auction (excluding 6 underground coal blocks). The round received a good response from the bidders. Bids have been received for 11 coal blocks out of 22 coal blocks," it said.
A total of 41 bids have been received online as well as in physical form against 11 mines.
"A total of 38 bids were received against eight coal blocks offered in the 12th round. Under the second attempt of the 11th round, a total of three coal blocks were put up for auction and three bids were received against three coal blocks with each block receiving one bid," it said.
The participation of new companies in the commercial coal block auction shows the interest of the companies towards the policy. The coal sector will continue to fuel the economy to become the third-largest economy in the world.
"The bids will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary Technical Evaluation Committee and Technically Qualified Bidders will be shortlisted for participation in the electronic auction, to be conducted on the MSTC portal," it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020 launched the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining, a move that opened India's coal sector for private players.
