Lok Sabha Question No. 685 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Coal Block Auction
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Ganesan Selvam, Heena Vijaykumar Gavit, Dhanush M Kumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 685 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## Coal Block Auction

685. SHRI SELVAM G:

DR. HEENAGAVIT:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- a. the number of coal blocks auctioned/proposed to be auctioned across the country  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year,  Statewise;
- b. whether the coal mines whose auctions were cancelled earlier have been re-auctioned;
- c. whether the Government has achieved the target of auctioning coal blocks during  the  last  three  years  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the corrective steps taken in this regard;
- d. whether the Government has taken steps to remove irregularities in the auction of coal blocks in the country if so, the details thereof; and
- e. the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure transparency in auction of the coal blocks?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COAL, MINES & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS

(SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

- a. to c) The detail of the number of coal blocks auctioned/ proposed to be auctioned is as :

| State   | Number of Coal Blocks put up for Auction Financial Year wise Mines proposed to be auctioned   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|                |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-192019-20 |    |   2019-20 |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|------------------|----|-----------|
| Jharkhand      |         0 |         5 |                8 |  8 |         2 |
| Chattishgarh   |         0 |         0 |                2 |  4 |         2 |
| Madhya Pradesh |         0 |         1 |                2 |  3 |         3 |
| Maharashtra    |         0 |         0 |                3 |  9 |         1 |
| Telangana      |         0 |         0 |                0 |  0 |         0 |
| West Bengal    |         0 |         0 |                2 |  2 |         1 |
| Odisha         |         0 |         0 |                1 |  1 |         3 |
| TOTAL          |         0 |         6 |               18 | 27 |        12 |

Some of the coal mines, which were put up for auction but could not  be  auctioned  successfully,  had  been  put  up  for  auction  in  the subsequent tranches of auction.

- d. to e) In order to curtail corruption and ensure transparency & fairness, the auction of coal mine  is  done  through  electronic  auction  done  on electronic  platform  with  first  e-auction  of  coal  mines  was  conducted under the Section 4 of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015 for allocation of cancelled coal mine to the private Participants on 25/12/2014. The  e-auction consist of electronic two  stage bidding process,  with  Initial  Price  Offer  (  along  with  Technical  Bid)  and  Final Price Offer with minimum human intervention involving:
2.  Submission of encrypted price offers,
3.  Opening of technical bids in front of Bidders and
4.  Declaration of technically Qualified Bidders in Public

Any prior allottee who is convicted for an offence relating to coal block allocation and sentenced with imprisonment for more than three years, shall not be eligible to participate in the auction.

Further, to ensure the security proofness of the e-platform of M/s MSTC Limited , security audit is conducted prior to the auction of coal mines

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