Around 40 steel, sponge iron and cement companies have so far purchased bid documents for the three captive coal mines on offer. This is the first auction of captive coal assets in India.
While the sale of bid documents will continue till May 27, the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute will hold a pre-bid meeting on behalf of the Coal Ministry with the interested parties in Ranchi on Friday.
On February 26, the Centre offered three small-size blocks — Jhirki&Jhirki-West (Jharkhand), Andal Babuisol (West Bengal) and Tokisud-II (Jharkhand) — to steel, sponge iron and cement industries, respectively.
Steep conditions
Of the three, Andal Babuisol is the smallest. The underground reserve can produce around 0.7 million tonnes of coal annually for 25 years.
According to the auction methodology, the successful bidder has to pay 10 per cent of the net present value (NPV) of the asset as upfront payment. Together with the payment for exploration cost ( Rs. 3-5 crore), the upfront payment is estimated to be Rs. 35-45 crore.
The rest of the bid value will be calculated on per tonne of production. CMPDI will identify a floor rate, based on NPV, for such bidding.
The bidders may also have to confront issues related to land rights in at least two blocks – Tokisud-II and Andal-Babuisol.
Land tangle
Coal India, which was previously allotted the blocks, had taken control of a substantial portion of the land under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition & Development) Act.
The Act gives special powers to the State-owned miner to acquire coal-bearing land. On the flipside, land once possessed using the CBA Act can never be returned to anyone, not even to the Government.
Major ports handle 17% more imported coal in 2013-14
India's major state-owned ports handled 17% more imported coal in the fiscal ended March, according to data from the Indian Ports Association (IPA), as its coastal power firms stepped up generation to meet growing demand.
A rush to add power capacity after years of under-investment has forced Indian generators to increase coal imports as state-run domestic monopoly Coal India has struggled to meet demand. Coal-based power generation rose 8% to 587.64 billion kilowatt-hours in April-January. The rising demand from India, Asia's third-largest economy and the world's number 3 coal importer, has helped coal producers in Indonesia and Australia cope with global oversupply and a price slump.
Total coal handled by India's 12 major ports jumped to 104.7 million tonne in 2013-14 from 86.7 million tonne a year earlier, the IPA data showed on Friday.
Thermal coal imports through the ports leaped 22% to 71.6 million tonne while shipments of cooking coal, used in making steel, rose 18.3% to 33.1 million tonne.
India's major ports handled about two-thirds of coal imports of 137.6 million tonne in 2012-13. The country has about 176 so-called minor ports. More than 80% of India's coal output comes from Coal India, which has fallen short of its output target for at least the past seven years due to difficulties in obtaining environmental approvals, lack of railway access and other issues. India's total coal production rose by just about 2 million tonne to 562.4 million tonne in calendar year 2013.
While the sale of bid documents will continue till May 27, the Central Mine Planning and Design Institute will hold a pre-bid meeting on behalf of the Coal Ministry with the interested parties in Ranchi on Friday.
On February 26, the Centre offered three small-size blocks — Jhirki&Jhirki-West (Jharkhand), Andal Babuisol (West Bengal) and Tokisud-II (Jharkhand) — to steel, sponge iron and cement industries, respectively.
Steep conditions
Of the three, Andal Babuisol is the smallest. The underground reserve can produce around 0.7 million tonnes of coal annually for 25 years.
According to the auction methodology, the successful bidder has to pay 10 per cent of the net present value (NPV) of the asset as upfront payment. Together with the payment for exploration cost ( Rs. 3-5 crore), the upfront payment is estimated to be Rs. 35-45 crore.
The rest of the bid value will be calculated on per tonne of production. CMPDI will identify a floor rate, based on NPV, for such bidding.
The bidders may also have to confront issues related to land rights in at least two blocks – Tokisud-II and Andal-Babuisol.
Land tangle
Coal India, which was previously allotted the blocks, had taken control of a substantial portion of the land under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition & Development) Act.
The Act gives special powers to the State-owned miner to acquire coal-bearing land. On the flipside, land once possessed using the CBA Act can never be returned to anyone, not even to the Government.
Major ports handle 17% more imported coal in 2013-14
India's major state-owned ports handled 17% more imported coal in the fiscal ended March, according to data from the Indian Ports Association (IPA), as its coastal power firms stepped up generation to meet growing demand.
A rush to add power capacity after years of under-investment has forced Indian generators to increase coal imports as state-run domestic monopoly Coal India has struggled to meet demand. Coal-based power generation rose 8% to 587.64 billion kilowatt-hours in April-January. The rising demand from India, Asia's third-largest economy and the world's number 3 coal importer, has helped coal producers in Indonesia and Australia cope with global oversupply and a price slump.
Total coal handled by India's 12 major ports jumped to 104.7 million tonne in 2013-14 from 86.7 million tonne a year earlier, the IPA data showed on Friday.
Thermal coal imports through the ports leaped 22% to 71.6 million tonne while shipments of cooking coal, used in making steel, rose 18.3% to 33.1 million tonne.
India's major ports handled about two-thirds of coal imports of 137.6 million tonne in 2012-13. The country has about 176 so-called minor ports. More than 80% of India's coal output comes from Coal India, which has fallen short of its output target for at least the past seven years due to difficulties in obtaining environmental approvals, lack of railway access and other issues. India's total coal production rose by just about 2 million tonne to 562.4 million tonne in calendar year 2013.
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