The proposed competitive bidding round for coal blocks in the country will be held soon, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said last night.
"The bidding will be called soon," Jaiswal said when asked about the status of the government's plan for allocation of coal blocks through competitive bidding.
He was in the city to join in the celebrations for Coal India's new Maharatna status.
Though the exact number of coal blocks that will be put on auction is not known, it is believed that government is ready with 50-75 blocks.
The launch of the competitive bidding round was delayed earlier due to the controversy over classification of certain coal blocks as 'Go' and 'No-Go' areas by the Environment Ministry.
However, the issue could be resolved at the proposed review meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on coal production, which is slated for June 7.
The proposal for auctioning coal blocks through competitive bidding was mooted for the first time over two years ago. Parliament had also approved amending the MMDR Act to facilitate this process.
Meanwhile, asked about the status of 14 coal blocks that were taken back from mining companies over their failure to stick to development timelines, Jaiswal said he will try to allocate these blocks to CIL and some preference could be given to state governments.
He did not rule out reconsidering the decision for genuine cases, though he asserted that the deallocation by the government was only done after a stringent review.
