Vedanta has bagged another coal mine under its kitty after it was elected as the technically qualified bidder for Kuraloi North (A) block by the nominated authority.
In the first round of commercial coal mining auctions, the company had won Radhikapur West block at a premium of 21%, however, bid submitted for Kuraloi block was rejected as it failed to realize the criteria of receiving minimum two bids in the technical round.
Thereafter, a second attempt was lunched for sale of remaining 4 coal blocks which had received single bid by incorporating modifications in the tender document. Apparently, Vedanta emerged as the sole bidder for Kuraloi block in the re-sale process, while no bids was received for other blocks.
Later, decision regarding final allotment block was made by the Empowered Committee of Secretaries following which the Kuraloi block having geological reserve of 1380 mn t has been awarded to Vedanta.
Latest Development:
With the sale of Kuraloi block, the first tranche of commercial coal mining has officially concluded where a total of 20 blocks were sold out of the 38 that were initially offered for sale.
Coal ministry has already started second tranche of auction by proposing a tentative list of 75 coal blocks to be offered for sale, for which consent of stakeholders are invited through EoI.
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