The second tranche of commercial coal mines’ auctions in India has succeeded in grabbing the attention of prospective bidders as majority of the offered blocks have already been earmarked for the final round of sale.
Reflecting an overwhelming response to the auction process, tender documents of around 50 blocks have been sold while several others are in the process of being purchased by the bidders, a press release from the government informed on Tuesday.
Learning from past experiences, the nominated authority had taken extra care while selecting the coal blocks for auction by excluding the ones which might be susceptible to state resistance with regard to environmental clearances.
It is pertinent to note that a total of 67 blocks have been offered for the second round, which is the highest number of blocks on offer in a particular tranche after commencement of the auction regime since 2014.
Covid-restrictions forced re-scheduling of auction timeline:
Despite the tremendous start to the sales process, the nominated authority has brought about a change in the timeline for the auctions due to lock-down restrictions.
As per the earlier schedule, the due date for bid submission was 27 May ’21, after which the technical bids were supposed to be opened a day later. However, in order to enable interested parties to travel to mine locations for inspection, the bid submission date has been shifted to 24 June ’21.
Nevertheless, the nominated authority has shown eagerness to complete the auction process before the end of Aug ’21. Accordingly, the period for electronic auction has been cut short which was earlier a month-long affair in the previous schedule.
Revised time-line for auction has been provided below:
*Last date for site visit request: 11 June ’21
*Last date for registration: 22 June ’21
*Last date for sale of tender document: 23 June ’21
*Bid due date: 24 June ’21
*Opening of technical bid: 25 June ’21
*Examination of technical bids: 28 June-21 July ’21
*Conduct of electronic auction: 26 July-11 Aug ’21
*Selection of successful bidder: 16 Aug ’21
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