Launching the 6th round of coal mine auction of the Ministry of Coal, she observed that India was at present the best investment destination in the world.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks during the launch of 6th tranche of auction for commercial mining of coal, in the capital on Thursday (Subrata Dutta)
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today launched the biggest-ever coal mine auction of 141 mines, saying a fast-growing economy like India needed greater investment in coal production and gasification projects.
Launching the 6th round of coal mine auction of the Ministry of Coal, she observed that India was at present the best investment destination in the world.
The minister claimed that due to policy consistency and the transparent process of the present government, coal imports for the power sector have come down by 41 per cent. The finance minister said that twelve states were to benefit directly from today’s auction.
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Complementing the Coal Ministry for the recent initiatives to unlock the coal sector, Sitharaman said that mining sector reforms were providing the right fillip to India’s fast-growing economy. The Finance Ministry would be extending all help for coal gasification and incentives in commercial mining, she further added.
Addressing the function Coal, Mines & Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the Coal Ministry was exploring alternative methodologies for enhanced use of coal.
He said the Finance Ministry has extended Rs. 6000 crore incentive for coal gasification and Rs. 250 crores for the exploration process. During the biggest auction undertaken so far, today 141 mines pertaining to eleven states have been auctioned.
Joshi said that previously auctioned mines have started production and hoped that 10 to 15 million tonnes of coal would be produced from new mines by next year. As per the review done the other day, the Ministry of Coal was anticipating 900 million tonne coal production this year, he added.
Altogether, 133 coal mines were put up for auction in the 6th round of commercial auctions, out of which 71 are new coal mines and 62 coal mines are rolling over from earlier tranches of commercial auctions. Additionally, eight coal mines under the second attempt of the fifth round of commercial auctions were included for which single bids were received in the first attempt.
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