By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Ministry of coal is committed to allocate more coal mines on auction basis and is planning to launch more rounds of auction in the near future.
Till date, six rounds of commercial auctions have been completed and currently, 7th round of commercial auction is under progress. The mine-wise details of the participants and award status for mines put up in the 7th round of commercial auction is as per Annexure-1.
Till date, 86 coal blocks including 17 in Odisha, have successfully been auctioned under commercial mining in 6 rounds of auction. Out of these 86 blocks, Vesting Orders have been issued for 74 coal blocks. Details of the same are at Annexure-2. The nodal officer for conducting the auction of coal mines is Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal.
Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha said on Wednesday that Government has made several policy reforms in the coal sector.
Ministry of Coal is coordinating with Ministry of Railways to enhance coal evacuation & distribution capabilities. At present, 13 Railway lines are being constructed in collaboration with the Ministry of Railways for expansion of coal distribution capabilities, which are at various stages of construction.
A total of 67 First Mile Connectivity (FMC) Projects with 885 MT capacity being taken up in 3 phases to achieve capacity of ~1BT mechanized handling of coal. In line with the goal of PM Gati Shakti, the Ministry of Coal has undertaken railway projects costing Rs. 26000 Cr to develop multimodal connectivity.
A Sub-group of all stakeholder ministries- Railway, Power, & Coal, and State representatives has been created. The Sub-group ensures rakes supply depending on the coal availability.
