Question : Coal Block Auction

a. the number of coal blocks auctioned/proposed to be auctioned across the country during each of the last three years and the current year, State-wise;
b. whether the coal mines whose auctions were cancelled earlier have been re-auctioned;
c. whether the Government has achieved the target of auctioning coal blocks during the last three years and if so, the details thereof and if not, the corrective steps taken in this regard;
d. whether the Government has taken steps to remove irregularities in the auction of coal blocks in the country if so, the details thereof; and
e. the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure transparency in auction of the coal blocks?

MINISTER OF COAL, MINES & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS
(SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

a. to c) The detail of the number of coal blocks auctioned/ proposed to be auctioned is as :

State Number of Coal Blocks put up for Auction Financial Year wise
Mines proposed to be auctioned
2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2019-20
Jharkhand 0 5 8 8 2
Chattishgarh 0 0 2 4 2
Madhya Pradesh 0 1 2 3 3
Maharashtra 0 0 3 9 1
Telangana 0 0 0 0 0
West Bengal 0 0 2 2 1
Odisha 0 0 1 1 3
TOTAL 0 6 18 27 12

Some of the coal mines, which were put up for auction but could not be auctioned successfully, had been put up for auction in the subsequent tranches of auction.

d. to e) In order to curtail corruption and ensure transparency & fairness, the auction of coal mine is done through electronic auction done on electronic platform with first e-auction of coal mines was conducted under the Section 4 of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015 for allocation of cancelled coal mine to the private Participants on 25/12/2014. The e-auction consist of electronic two stage bidding process, with Initial Price Offer ( along with Technical Bid) and Final Price Offer with minimum human intervention involving:
• Submission of encrypted price offers,
• Opening of technical bids in front of Bidders and
• Declaration of technically Qualified Bidders in Public
Any prior allottee who is convicted for an offence relating to coal block allocation and sentenced with imprisonment for more than three years, shall not be eligible to participate in the auction.

Further, to ensure the security proofness of the e-platform of M/s MSTC Limited , security audit is conducted prior to the auction of coal mines

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