365telugu.com online news,delhi,march 16th,2022:As per Coal Directory 2020-21, India is the second largest coal producer and importer in the world.The quantity of total coal imported during last five years and current year upto the month of January, 2022 is given below:-
(in Million Tonnes)
| Year | Import of Coal |
| 2016-17 | 191.01 |
| 2017-18 | 208.25 |
| 2018-19 | 235.35 |
| 2019-20 | 248.54 |
| 2020-21 | 215.25 |
| 2021-22 upto Jan.2022 | 173.32 |
Order regarding methodology for auction of coal and lignite mines / blocks for sale of coal / lignite on revenue sharing basis and tenure of coking coal linkage was issued on 28.05.2020. Auction process for auction of coal blocks for sale of coal has been launched on 18.06.2020.
Amendments have been made in the Mines & Mineral (Development & Regulation) (MMDR) Act and the Coal Mines (Special Provision) (CMSP) Act to ensure wider participation and competition in auction of coal mines. The amendments in the Acts would enable the following:
- Allocation of coal blocks for composite prospecting license-cum-mining lease which will help in increasing of the inventory of coal/lignite blocks for allocation.
- Repetitive and redundant provision requiring previous approval of Central government even in cases where the allocation or reservation of coal/lignite block has been made by the Central Government itself has been done away with.
- Provided flexibility to the Central Govt. in deciding the end use of Schedule II and III coal mines under the CMSP Act.
- Companies which do not possess any prior coal mining experience in India can now participate in auction of coal blocks.
In view of the amendments made in CMSP Act, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Rules, 2014 were also amended through the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Amendment Rules, 2020 and the same has been notified on 29.05.2020.
Since Launch of auction of coal mines for commercial mining in June 2020, a total of 4 rounds of auction have been conducted in which total 292 coal mines were offered. In 3 rounds, 42 coal mines have been successfully auctioned. Further, in respect of 4th round of auction, bids were opened on 02.03.2022 and 2 or more bids have been received in respect of 5 coal mines and 6 coal mines have fetched single bids.
The Ministry of Coal has amended Mineral Concession Rules,1960 with a view to allowing sale of coal or lignite, on payment of additional amount, by the lessee of a captive mine up to 50 percent of the total coal or lignite produced in a financial year, after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.