Vedanta emerges successful bidder for coal block in Odisha

With the successful auction of Kuraloi (A) north coal mine in Odisha, the total number of mines successfully auctioned in the first tranche of the auction for commercial mining is 20 out of the total 38 coal mines offered, the coal ministry said in a statement. 

In the first attempt of auction under the 11th tranche of auction under the CM (S) Act 2015 and under the first tranche of auction under the MMDR Act 1957, out of the 38 coal mines, 19 have been successfully auctioned. 

Out of the remaining mines, four coal mines which had fetched a single bid in the first attempt were put up for re-auction in a second attempt by the Ministry of Coal with the same terms and conditions but with the highest initial offer received in the first annulled attempt of the auction as the floor price for the second attempt. 

''Of these four mines under the second attempt of the auction, one mine Kuraloi (A) North had received a bid and has now been successfully auctioned with Vedanta being the successful bidder,'' the statement said. 

The coal ministry had launched the auction process of 38 coal mines in the first tranche of the auction for the sale of coal for commercial mining). 

Kuraloi (A) North with a peak rated capacity of eight million tonnes per annum (MTPA) is the largest mine in terms of PRC of all the mines successfully auctioned in the first tranche. The mine is expected to generate annual revenue of Rs 763 crore and also provide employment to over 10,000 people.