Over 100 bid forms have been sold for the first tranche of auction of 46 coal blocks slated to be completed by March 23, a government official said today.
"We have seen over 100 bidding forms being bought," Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said here today on the sidelines of an interaction at the MCC Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The government is set to auction operational mines by March 23, out of 101 blocks announced so far.
The second tranche of 32 blocks in round 1 will be auctioned in the first week of April.
The auction of second round of 103 mines will be completed by March, 2016.
Asked whether the government had decided on the end-use of 103 mines, Swarup said, "The government has not yet decided on the end use of these mines."
He said the government was trying for a transparent way of block allocation.
Asked if this new allocation process would face any threat of judicial intervention, he said that "we are getting it legally vetted and do the auctions in a transparent process".
The government was also working on coal linkage policy and a report was expected to be submitted in a month's time, Swarup said. This might facilitate release of coal from existing coal linkages.
On rationalisation of coal linkages that was started by the government in the wake of KPMG's report, Swarup said already 20 rationalisations had been done and a saving of Rs 1,100 crore is been derived.
KPMG had said a total Rs 6,000 crore could be saved by the country if coal rationalisation is undertaken.
Swarup said that the government was not aware of any concerns over the auction of bidding in the first tranche , which remains to be discussed with the industry.
CESC chairman Sanjiv Goenka said he was expecting clarity on a few issues pertaining to the auction of the first tranche of auction.
