Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: The government on Thursday launched the e-auction portal for coal mines. The portal for registration has started functioning from today while the tender documents will be released on December 27.
Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal has tweeted, "Launched the e-auction portal for coal mines enabling registration of bidders today".
Goyal further wrote that it is a, "matter of great delight to launch this portal on Good Governance Day & Atal ji's birthday, which is a true model of good governance."
"This was done within a day of repromulgation of the Coal Ordinance. I congratulate Coal Ministry officials, MSTC and SBI Caps," Goyal tweeted.
The e-auction process, for which the guidelines were approved by the Union Cabinet yesterday along with the ordinance, would start with 24 coal mines.
This will include 7 for the power sector, 16 for other end-use steel and cement plants as also captive power units, and one mine for steel.
The government has approved re-promulgation of the coal ordinance and necessary guidelines for mine allocations and said the coal-rich states stand to earn Rs 7 lakh crore over the next 30 years.
These states include Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, which account for most of the 204 coal blocks whose allocations were cancelled by the Supreme Court and the government is now re-allocating them -- through auction or direct allotments.
The Ordinance was re-promulgated a day after the conclusion of the Parliament's winter session during which the legislation could not get through.
With PTI Inputs
