JOIN USWith private firms aggressively bidding to get coal blocks in the ongoing e-auction, the Centre expects that it would fetch a whopping Rs 15 lakh crore over the next 30 years for coal rich states.
Indian metal and cement companies have been bidding aggressively for coal blocks in the country’s first auction to sell mines. Of the 19 blocks on offer, 15 have already sold for over Rs 60,000 crore.
Union Minister for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal said bidding for coal mines would ensure adequate fuel supply to end-use plants and, as a result, the country would see a decrease in power costs.
“At the end of the fifth day (of the auction of blocks), we are looking at about Rs 60,000 crores in the next 30 years accruing to the state governments,” Goyal told reporters here.
“But it certainly gives me confidence that we are not looking at anything less than Rs 15 lakh crore coming out of these 204 coal blocks as they start producing over the next 30 years,” he said.
The first round of auction will complete on February 23 while the second round will begin on February 25 and end on March 5 for 43 blocks, which is likely to be less aggressive as the biggest bidders would have got their mines by then.