The Ministry of Coal is hosting an investor conclave on December 1st, 2022 in Mumbai, in an effort to increase bidder participation in the commercial auction of coal mines.
 

Eknath Shinde, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, will be the chief guest, while Pralhad Joshi, the Union Minister of Coal, Mines, and Parliamentary Affairs, will officiate. The function's Special Guest will be Deputy Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis, while the Guest of Honor will be Maharashtra's Minister of Mining, Shri Dadaji Bhuse, and Minister of State for Coal, Mines, and Railways, Shri Raosaheb Patil Danve. The Conclave will also feature participation from Shri Amrit Lal Meena, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, and Shri Vivek Bhardwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Mines.

After due deliberation, the list of mines has been settled upon. Mines that are located in protected regions, wildlife sanctuaries, critical habitats, locations with a high percentage of forest cover, densely populated areas, etc. have been eliminated.

In order to increase bidder interest and engagement in certain coal blocks, the block borders of some coal mines that included areas of dense habitation, high green cover, or important infrastructure, etc., have been adjusted based on feedback from stakeholder consultations.

Following the profitable sale of 64 coal mines in the first five tranches, the Ministry of Coal began the process of selling 133 mines in the sixth round of commercial auctions, of which 71 are new mines and 62 are rolling over from the first tranches held in November 2022. Eight coal mines were also put up for auction in the second try in the fifth round of commercial auctions, after the first effort only attracted one bid.


The National Coal Index and National Lignite Index, ease of participation with no entry barriers, full flexibility in coal utilization, optimized payment structures, efficiency promotion through incentives for early production, and use of clean coal technology are just a few of the auction process' key features. Other features include reductions in upfront payment and bid amount of security.

On November 3, 2022, the sale of the tender document officially began. On the MSTC auction platform, users can access information on the mines, the rules of the auction, deadlines, etc. The auction will be conducted online in a clear two-stage process based on percentage revenue share.
 

The Ministry of Coal is receiving assistance from SBI Capital Markets Limited, the only Transaction Advisor for the commercial coal mining auctions.