Coal Minister of India, Mr Pralhad Joshi stated that the commercial coal mining project provides a very good start and has been the best in coal after the coal block auction process.
He said a total of 1,140 entities, including international players, attended the technical session after the launch of the sale of the blocks and 26 companies bought tender documents and 10 firms - domestic and foreign - interested in travelling to the mines.
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This statement is significant given the fears of the Jharkhand government that investors will not come for auction of commercial coal mining due to coronavirus epidemic.
"We started commercial coal mining on June 18. The Prime Minister has blessed the occasion. And after that, there was a specialized business session. Only interested people come. 1,140 people (technical sessions) attended and from that ( 1,140).) Joshi said that 50 to 60 people were international players.
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Within eight days of the auction process, 329 registrations were held and 26 tender documents were sold for Rs 5 lakh each, the minister said.
He said about 10 companies, including foreign companies, have shown interest in selling the mines.
"Now, after coal auctions, there is very good overcomes in the coal sector in previous coal history. I am confident that it will improve further in the coming 20-30 days. According to me, this is the best response. It's great to start with, ”The minister said.
Out of 41 blocks being put up for auction for commercial mining, the centre is withdrawing a monkey mine in Maharashtra as it comes under the environment-sensitive area.
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The Center is also considering the request of the Chhattisgarh government to replace four coal blocks identified for auction for commercial mining.
Jharkhand Government decided to challenge Centre's project of the auction of coal blocks on June 18, 2020, which was launched by Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government, in its petition, demanded the coal ministry to direct the postponement of the proposed commercial auction of mines.
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The petition stated that the negative 'global investment climate' caused by COVID-19, which is unlikely to bring reasonable returns in proportion to the value of scarce natural resources for commercial coal mining, said.
The Coal mining project which is across states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra will provide employment to around 2.8 lakh people and will contribute around 20,000 crores of annual revenue to their respective state governments.
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