Bids for 6th commercial auction of coal mines can be submitted till Jan 13

The government on Tuesday said that bids for the sixth round of commercial coal mines' auction can be submitted till Friday.

The bids will be opened on coming Monday in the presence of representatives of the bidders.

The biggest tranche of 141 mines covering eleven coal-bearing states are being offered in the sixth round of commercial coal mine auction.

"In accordance with the timelines, bidders can submit their bids online on the electronic platform by 12:00 hours up to January 13, 2023 and physically by 16:00 hours on the same day," the coal ministry said in a statement.

The coal mines under the ongoing tranche have been selected considering the varied demands within the investor community; some of the coal mines have been resized based on the feedback of the industry to improve their attractiveness.

The coal ministry had launched the process for auction of 133 coal mines under sixth round of commercial auctions, of which 71 are new coal mines and 62 blocks are rolling over from earlier tranches of commercial auctions.

Additionally, eight coal mines under second attempt of fifth round of commercial auctions were also included as those mines had received single bids in the first attempt.

The coal ministry has successfully auctioned 64 coal mines in the first five tranches of commercial mines' auction.