Govt offers 25 mines across 7 states in 12th auction round of commercial mines | Mint

The Centre has launched the 12th round of commercial coal mines auction offering 25 mines across seven states.

Chhattisgarh has the highest number of mines offered in this round — seven — followed by five mines in Jharkhand, four in Madhya Pradesh, three in Maharashtra, and two each in Odisha, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Out of the 25 mines on offer, 12 are partially explored while 13 are fully explored.

Along with these another three mines, which were originally offered in the previous rounds, but failed to find buyers have also been put on the block.

Auctions to spur investment, cut imports

Addressing the launch event for the 12th round, union minister for coal and mines, G. Kishan Reddy said: “So far 125 coal mines have been successfully auctioned in 11 rounds initiative strong private sector partnership. These 125 coal mines are expected to attract more than 40,000 crore investment and create four lakh direct and indirect jobs.”

“Today with the 12th tranche we are taking another big step auctioning 28 more coal and declared blocks. These auctions reduce coal imports, save foreign exchange, and make in India truly ‘atmanirbhar’ (self reliant).”

The secretary to the ministry of coal, Vikram Dev Dutt, said that the ministry is looking afresh at the framework for exploration in a bid to accelerate the exploration of the mineral which is a key fuel for India’s power sector. Even amid the strides in renewable power, power generation from coal comprises of over 70% India’s total power generation.

A total of 125 mines have been auctioned out so far across 11 rounds since the opening up of the sector and launch of the commercial coal mining in June 2020.

Commercial mining sees robust demand

The 125 mines have a peak rated capacity of 273.06 million tonnes. According the coal ministry, once operationalized, these mines are projected to generate an annual revenue of ₹39,000 crore.

Recently, the ministry announced that a total of 12 mines were successfully auctioned in the 11th round launched in December 2024. These twelve mines collectively hold a geological reserve of approximately 5,759.23 million tonnes, with a cumulative peak rated capacity of 15.46 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), excluding partially explored mines.

The auctions witnessed intense competition, achieving an impressive average revenue share of 36.27%, reflecting the sustained interest of industries in India’s coal sector, an official statement had said.

According to the ministry, the production from these commercial or captive mines increased from 63.14 million tonne to 190 million in the past five years with a CAGR of 24.65%.