कोयला मंत्रालय Ministry of Coal

Nationalisation of coal mines was undertaken in the 1970s to end unscientific mining practices and poor working conditions of labour in the private coal mines in the country. In 2014, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India cancelled 204 coal mine/blocks which had been allocated to the various Government and private Companies since 1993 under the provisions of Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1973. In 2015, the Central Government brought in Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act to re-allocate these coal blocks. The Act was promulgated to provide for allocation of these coal mines and concomitant responsibilities like vesting of the rights, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure together with mining leases to Successful Bidders and Allottees with a view to ensure continuity in coal mining operations and production of coal. Subsequently, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 was passed by the Parliament which was notified as an Act on 30.03.2015.

Nominated Authority is appointed under the section 6(1) of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and has been vested with the overall responsibility as highlighted below:

• to conduct the auction process and allotment;
• execution of the vesting order for transfer and vesting of Schedule I coalmines pursuant to the auction;
• executing the allotment order for any Government company or corporation in pursuance of section 5;
• recording and mutating incorporeal rights of whatsoever nature including, consents, permissions, permits, approvals, grants, registrations; and collection of auction proceeds, adjustment of preferential payments and transfer of amount to the respective State Governments where Schedule I coal mine is located in accordance with the provisions of the CM(SP) Act.
• Operationalization of auctioned/allotted mines.

Indian Coal sector has been recently opened up for commercial mining by private sector and this move is expected to generate a host of benefits for all the stakeholders in coal mining. Till now 16 tranches of auction have been conducted and 152 mines are allocated.  17th Tranche of Auction has been launched on 29.03.2023.

M. Nagaraju, IAS, Additional Secretary has been appointed as the Nominated Authority since 31^st January, 2020.

From 2015 till June 2020, following the procedure laid down in the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and rules made thereunder, 10 round of auctions and 9 round of allotment were completed for specified end uses where 35 mines were auctioned and 65 were allotted, including, 13 coal mines allocated for sale of coal to Government PSUs under Rule 11 (10) of the CMSP Rules.  Updated status of the coal mines allocated under CMSP Act before auction for commercial mining started is as under:-

Thereafter on June 18, 2020, Ministry of Coal started auction of coal mines for commercial mining.  Till now, five round of commercial auctions have been completed and sixth round of auction has been launched as details mentioned below:-

(i)    In the first ever round of commercial auctions, a total of 38 coal mines were offered and 20 coal mines were successfully auctioned. 
(ii)    Second round of commercial auctions was launched on March 25, 2021, where 67 coal mines were put up for auction out of which 11 coal mines have been successfully auctioned. 
(iii)    Third round was launched on October 12, 2021, where 88 coal mines were offered, of which, 13 coal mines have been auctioned.  
(iv)   Then the fourth round was launched on December 16, 2021, where 99 coal mines were put up for auction out of which 7 coal mines have been auctioned. 
(v)   The fifth round of commercial auctions was launched on March 30, 2022, and a total of 109 coal mines were put up for auction of which 11 have been successfully auctioned.
(vi)    The sixth round of commercial coal mines auction was launched on November 03, 2022, where 133 coal mines have been offered of which 25 have been successfully auctioned and 5 coal mines where single bids were received are under second attempt of sixth round of auctions and was launched on March 29, 2023. 

(vii) The seventh round of commercial coal mines auction was launched on March 29, 2023, where 98 coal mines have been offered. The pre-bid meeting for the second attempt of sixth round of auctions and seventh round of auctions was held on April 12, 2023, and the last date for bid submission is 27.06.2023.

Under commercial auctions, total 86 coal mines have been auctioned with cumulative PRC of 218.90 MTPA.  The revenue share received for these coal mines ranges from 5.00% to 288.25%. Out of the 86 successfully auctioned coal mines, Coal Mine/Block Development & Production Agreements (CMDPA / CBDPA) have been signed for 78 coal mines, Vesting Orders have been issued for 73 coal mines (44 under CMSP Act and 29 under MMDR Act).  Additionally, CMDPAs have been terminated for 6 coal mines.  

On 29.03.2023, 7 Round of Auction and 2nd Attempt of 6th Round of Auction have been launched offering 103 coal/ lignite mines for commercial mining [98 in 7th Round and 5 in 2nd attempt of 6 Round].  Bid Due date is 27.06.2023.

Nominated Authority has so far allocated 152 coal mines under the provisions of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulations) Act, 1957.  Further, Ministry of Coal has allotted 6 coal mines under the provisions of MMDR Act.  The details of the above-mentioned 158 coal blocks are as under :-

Out of the coal mines allocated by Nominated Authority, 52 coal mines have obtained Mine Opening Permission and 45 coal mines are producing coal so far.  Further, 4 coal blocks allocated under the provisions of Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 which were not cancelled by Hon’ble Supreme Court have obtained Mine Opening Permission are producing coal.  The details of coal production from the above-mentioned mines is as under :-

* Note : Above coal production includes production from 4 coal mines allocated under the provisions of CMN Act, 1973.

Coal production from the captive coal mines and commercial coal mines allocated by Ministry of Coal / Nominated Authority is continuously increasing resulting in lessening the burden of Coal India Ltd. to supply coal to various end users, saving valuable foreign exchange and leading to ease of doing business in the country.  In F.Y. 2021-22, coal production from captive and commercial coal mines was 85.32 Million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and in F.Y. 2022-23, coal production from captive and commercial coal mines 116.08, which is around 40% more than F.Y. 2021-22.  This is a great achievement from coal mines allocated by Ministry of Coal and a remarkable step leading to Atmanirbhar Bharat.