Second Day Coal Auction Ensnared under Legal Dispute

No blocks were allotted to bidders as coal block auction was called off by the centre amidst legal enjoins.

Centre on Wednesday had called off the second day of third tranche coal block auction as both the coal blocks to be auctioned were withdrawn for different reasons. The auction of Chitarpur coal mine in Jharkhand was postponed for later dates. Whereas, Parbatpur central coal block is disengaged from the further auction because it is identified as a ‘gassy mine’. According to updates, Parbatpur central coal block will not be included in any further coal block auction

Auction of Chitarpur coal will be scheduled on later dates as per court’s order, the ministry said. The order was the effect of writ petition filed by Glass and Ceramics Pvt against UOI in Delhi High Court on 11 Aug’15.

JSPL, Hindalco and Vedanta were the companies, who had qualified for Chitarpur coal mine. However, PSUs like SAIL and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam were the potential bidders for Parbatpur Central coal mine.

On the first day of auction, two mines namely Marki Mangli-I in Maharashtra and Bhaskarpara in Chhattisgarh were offered for auction. It should be noted that Marki Mangli-I with a reported reserve of coal block was won by Topworth Urja and Metals with the winning bid of INR 715/MT. Whereas, Crest Steel and Power won  Bhaskarpara with an extractable reserves of 24.06 MnT. The winning bid for the block was INR 755/MT in forward auction.

Coal block auctioned in third tranche

Quantity in MnT
Prices in INR/MT
Source: SteelMint

Mine    Erstwhile holder    Ext Res    Won    Win Price
Marki Mangli I (Mh)    B.S Ispat    9.96    Topworth Urja & Metals    715
Bhaskarpara (CG)    Electrotherm/Grasim Ind    24.06    Crest Steel and Power    755