Coal auction:Govt names 8 winners in 2nd lot;withholds 6 names

The names of successful firms pertaining to six coal blocks that went under the hammer in the second lot are missing from the government's list of winning bidders.

A total of 14 ready-to-produce mines were auctioned in the second tranche.
Asked about the absence of winners of six coal blocks from the list, a top Coal Ministry official said, "There are no winners till a final view is taken."

The six coal blocks which do not figure in the list of successful bidders of schedule III mines are Brinda and Sasai mines (one bid was invited for both the mines), Meral mine, Dumri mine, Tara mine and Mandla South mine.

Coal Swarup Anil Swarup had earlier tweeted that "Usha Martin is the highest bidder at (Rs) 1804 (per tonne)  for Brinda and Sasai coal block."

He had also tweeted "Tirumala Industries (is the) highest bidder for Meral coal block at (Rs)727 (per tonne)."

"Hindalco (is the) highest bidder at (Rs) 2127 (per tonne) for Dumri and Jindal Power at (Rs) 126 (per tonne) for Tara coal block," Swarup had tweeted.

The government had earlier in the list of closing bid for schedule III mines said that closing bid price for Mandla South mine was Rs 1852 per tonne and the closing bid was submitted by Jaypee Cement Corporation.

Fourteen mines under Schedule III were sold during the second tranche from March 4 to March 9 to firms like Adani Power, JSW Steel, Mandakini Exploration and Mining, Indrajit Power Private Ltd, GMR Chhattisgarh Energy, Ambuja Cements, Japyee Cement, Araanya Mines Private Ltd, and Monnet Power Company Ltd.

The blocks sold in the second tranche included Brinda & Sasai, Jitpur, Moitra, Mandakini, Meral, Dumri, Nerad Malegaon, Tara, Ganeshpur, Gare Palma, Mandla South, Lohari and Utkal C.

The coal auction kitty has crossed Rs two lakh crore mark surpassing CAG's estimate of Rs 1.86 lakh crore lost due to allocating mines without auction during the previous regimes.

Auctions were necessitated after the Supreme Court in September last year cancelled allocations of 204 blocks since 1993, saying their allocation was "arbitrary and illegal".

Government will begin issuing ownership rights on March 23 for the coal blocks that have been auctioned so far by the government, starting with successful bidders for 15 mines in the first tranche.

As many as nineteen mines under Schedule II (already in production) category were auctioned in the first leg held between February 14 and February 22.

However, the government will decide the fate of four blocks, which came under the scanner for receiving low value bids, after an Inter-Ministerial Committee report.