New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) The Nominated Authority of the Coal Ministry on Monday opened the bids for the 12th round of commercial coal blocks’ auction in which as many as 41 bids have been received online as well as in physical form for 11 coal blocks, according to an official statement.

The online bids were decrypted and opened electronically in the presence of the bidders. Subsequently, sealed envelopes containing offline bid documents were also opened in the presence of bidders. Entire process was displayed on the screen for the bidders, the statement said.

The companies that have submitted bids include Damodar Valley Corporation, Amalgam Steel and Power Ltd, NLC India Limited, Oriental Quarries and Mines Pvt Ltd, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Orissa Alloy Steel Pvt Ltd, Penna Shipping Limited and Jharkhand Exploration and Mining Corporation Limited.

A total of 38 bids were received against eight coal blocks offered in the 12th round. Under the second attempt of the 11th round, a total of 3 coal blocks were put up for auction and 3 bids were received against three coal blocks with each blocks receiving one bid, the statement explained.

The response to the auction is considered to be good as a total of 27 companies have submitted their bids in the auction process. More than 10 new companies have participated for the first time under commercial coal block auction which shows the growing interest of private firms towards the policy.

The bids will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary Technical Evaluation Committee and Technically Qualified Bidders will be shortlisted for participation in the electronic auction, to be conducted on the MSTC portal, the statement said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Coal successfully auctioned a total of twelve coal mines, comprising eight fully explored mines and four partially explored coal mines across five states in March this year.

These mines are projected to generate an annual revenue of Rs 3,330 crore (excluding the partially explored mines) and attract a capital investment of approximately Rs 2,319 crore. Additionally, these mines are expected to create 20,902 employment opportunities, significantly contributing to economic development in coal-bearing regions.

–IANS

sps/pgh