Lok Sabha Question No. 301 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-03
Subject: Coal Mining
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Dushyant Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION No.301

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.02.2021

## Coal Mining

301. SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a) the amount of coal being imported in the country along with the amount of untapped coal resources available for mining;
- (b) the import reduction target the Government plans to achieve by opening up coal mining to the private sector;
- (c) the  revenue  share  offered  by  bidders  for  coal  blocks  with  peak  annual mining capacity greater than 2metric ton in the latest auction that was conducted by the Government compared to those offered by bidders of Iron and Aluminium;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to start trading coal exchange by the end of the year to trade coal mined from private commercial mines;
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether  the  Government  is  coming  up  with  new  policy  similar  to  New Exploration Licensing policy for the coal sector; and
- (g) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## Answer

## MINISTER OF  PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

- (a): During  2019-20,  248.54  Million  Tonne  (MT)  of  coal  was  imported  in  the country.  The  total  coal  resource  of  the  country  as  per  Coal  Inventory  of  India published by GSI as on 01.04.2019 is 326.495 Billion Tonnes (BT).
- (b): As per the current import policy, coal is kept under Open General License (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their  contractual  prices  on  payment  of  applicable  duty.      In  view  of  limited domestic availability  of  coking  coal,  coking  coal  will  continue  to  be  imported  for use  by  the  steel  sector.        Further,  coal  imported  by  power  plants  designed  on imported  coal  and  high  grade  coal  required  for  blending  purposes  will  also  be imported  in  the  country  as  this  cannot  be  fully  substituted  by  domestic  coal. However, coal import is being reduced by increasing availability of domestic coal in India. Import of coal has reduced from a level of 165.57 MT during April-November

2019 to 134.35 MT (Provisional) during April-November-2020 showing a negative growth  of  18.86  %.  For  the  long  term,  Government  has  taken  many  measures including  commercial  coal  mining,  with  a  provision  for  100%  foreign  direct investment to increase domestic availability of coal.

(c): The detail of estimated revenue to be generated from auction of coal mines having peak rated capacity of more than 2 MTPA, under the 11 th  Tranche under Coal  Mines  (Special  Provisions),  Act,  2015  and  1 st   Tranche  under  Mines  and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 is enclosed as Annexure .

(d):     Yes, Sir.

(e): Ministry of Coal has floated a tender for selection of consultant for providing strategic  and  implementation  management  consulting  services  to  assist  the Ministry of Coal in the process of setting up Coal Trading Platform/Coal Trading Exchange in the country. The scope of the work of the consultant is assessing the current  state  of  coal  sales  transaction  in  Indian  Coal  Sector,  study  of  global experience  for  development  of  coal  trading  exchanges,  identification  of  various trading  hub  concepts/models,  identify  regulatory  prerequisites,  evaluate  other aspects  around  coal  marketing  policies  and  recommend  changes  and  program management during implementation and on boarding of implementation partners.

(f): There is no such proposal under consideration in the Ministry of Coal.

(g): Does not arise in view of reply of part (f) above.

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## Annexure

|   Sl. No. | Mine              | State          | Successful Bidder                                    |   PRC (MTPA) | Upfront amount Total (in Rs.)   | Final Offer (%)   |   Annual Revenue generated based on the PRC of mine (Rs.Crore) |
|-----------|-------------------|----------------|------------------------------------------------------|--------------|---------------------------------|-------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Dhirauli          | Madhya Pradesh | Stratatech Mineral Resources Private Limited         |          3   | 3642947875.00                   | 12.50%            |                                                         398.27 |
|         2 | Gare- Palma-IV/1  | Chhattisgar h  | Jindal Power Limited                                 |          6   | 288386695.00                    | 25.00%            |                                                         652.1  |
|         3 | Radhikapur (West) | Odisha         | Vedanta Limited                                      |          6   | 990727000.00                    | 21.00%            |                                                         592.28 |
|         4 | Bandha            | Madhya Pradesh | EMIL Mines And Mineral Resources Limited             |          5   | __                              | 21.00%            |                                                         799.82 |
|         5 | Radhikapur (East) | Odisha         | EMIL Mines And Mineral Resources Limited             |          5   | 559847750.00                    | 16.75%            |                                                         466.58 |
|         6 | UrmaPahar itola   | Jharkhand      | Aurobindo Reality And Infrastructure Private Limited |         10   | __                              | 26.50%            |                                                        1415.85 |
|         7 | Gondulpara        | Jharkhand      | Adani Enterprises Limited                            |          4   | 870629375.00                    | 20.75%            |                                                         520.92 |
|         8 | Chakla            | Jharkhand      | Hindalco Industries Limited                          |          5.3 | 280244250.00                    | 14.25%            |                                                         519.54 |