New Delhi: State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) has awarded 23 closed and discontinued mines on a revenue-sharing basis to private players for mining latent coal reserves.
The cumulative peak rated capacity of these mines is 34.14 million tonnes per year, while the total extractable reserves are estimated at 635 million tonnes, the state-run monopoly said in a statement. It, however, did not disclose the names of the private companies to which the mines have been awarded.
CIL has identified a total 34 discontinued mines where good-quality coal reserves are lying untapped, but may not be financially viable for the company to extract them.
“CIL has decided to tender and offer these mines to willing private sector players who are prepared to operate and produce the dry fuel and share part of the revenue with CIL. Successful bidder is the one who offers the maximum revenue to the authority, which is the coal company,” the statement added.
The successful bidder would share a minimum revenue of 4% with the state-run miner. The contract period is for a maximum of 25 years.
According to the company, the advantages of the move would be conservation of resource, effective substitution of imported coal for non-regulated sector with good-quality coal locked up in these mines, and provision of livelihood to the local communities where these mines are revived.
From environmental point of view, there would be no land degradation as the mining infrastructure is already in place, it said.
CIL is also identifying a few more mines for the purpose to attract wider participation with easier bid norms.
The private coal mining company which has been awarded a mine will get a rebate of 50% in revenue sharing if it sells at least 10% of the coal for gasification.
The successful bidder or the mine operator can also utilize the existing infrastructure and project facilities without any additional payment to the authority. In case of a consortium, foreign bidders are allowed to participate as second or third members of the consortium, as per Government eMarketplace (GeM) portal.
The mine operator shall act as the agency responsible for selling coal extracted from these mines at market price through an auction process on behalf of the authority (CIL). They shall also have the freedom to adopt their preferential method of technology and deployment of mining machinery to extract coal from the mines.
Of the 34 identified mines, the West Bengal-based Eastern Coalfields Ltd and Jharkhand-based Bharat Coking Coal Ltd account for 10 each, Western Coalfields Ltd has five, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd has four, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd has three and two others belong to Central Coalfields Ltd.
Shares of Coal India settled 2.2% lower at ₹478.20 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Universal Times Magazine staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
(Press the bell 🔔 Icon, for all latest updates)
