Allocation of coal blocks for PSUs begins

The Ministry of Coal on Thursday started the process to allocate 36 coal mines to public sector undertakings (PSU) and asked them to pay up to Rs 150 per tonne of extracted coal as royalty and monthly payments in addition to the upfront amount.

 Of the 36 blocks listed by the government, 35 will be allotted to the power PSUs while the remaining one has been earmarked for steel. 


The government also imposed a condition that the firms which got coal blocks should not be permitted to use the coal extracted from mine for any purpose other than utilisation for specified end use. 

It also said that obtaining all clearances, land acquisition, rehabilitation, financing, development, mining and the operation and maintenance of the mine will fall in the domain of the allottees.

The government said the Upfront Amount is calculated as 10 per cent of the value of the coal mine computed by compounding annuitised reserve price over mine life.

The government said that apart from upfront payment, the allottees will be required to pay monthly payments to the tune of Rs 150 per tonne of the quantity of coal extracted where specified end use is steel.