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Coal block auction not a revenue maximisation exercise, says Coal Secretary Anil Swarup

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Coal Secretary Anil Swarup today said that the government will auction coal blocks, whose allocation was cancelled by the Supreme Court but only to specified end-users. "Bids for coal blocks to be auctioned in the first phase will be due on February 11," Swarup said.

Swarup further added, "Coal block auction is not a revenue maximisation exercise and the government is keen that tariffs don't rise."

"To avoid monopoly, a cap on the number of blocks a company can bid for will be put in place," Swarup said.

The Coal Ministry has asked the allottees of 74 mines to provide information about their fields by November 25.

The required information is to include details on environment clearance, production and land status. These 74 mines were part of those 204 coal blocks whose allocation to various companies since 1993 was quashed by the Supreme Court on the ground that they were done in an illegal manner by an ad-hoc and casual approach without application of mind.

The government is now planning to allocate coal blocks through auction by February next. Earlier in November, the government had last week set up a high-level inter-ministerial committee to ensure the smooth allocation of 204 cancelled coal blocks. 

The committee will provide advice on policy issues and interact with the industry. The Coal Ministry  said the nine-member committee, to be headed by Additional Secretary (Coal), will have members from ministries like power, steel and law.

With PTI inputs.

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