The first auction of coal mines to be used for commercial purposes ended on Monday with Sarda Energy and Minerals winning the Gare Palma 4/7 mine in Chhattisgarh.

Coal minister Prahlad Joshi said the states where the 19 blocks that went under the hammer were located would get an annual revenue of around Rs 6,656 crore and generate nearly 70,000 jobs, with peak capacity to touch 51 million tonnes per annum.

In the bidding for Gare Palma 4/7, Sarda Energy outbid Adani, JSPL and Hindalco with a revenue sharing of 66.75 per cent. The mine is estimated to have 234 million tonnes (mt) of geological reserves and could garner Rs 210 crore in annual revenue to the Chhattisgarh government.

The coal minister downplayed the apprehensions of the Jharkhand government over the auctions being held during the pandemic. He said the state would grt revenues of Rs 2,690 crore from mining, the most among its peers. The Jharkhand government has filed a case in the Supreme Court on the auctions.

“Out of 38 mines put on auction, 19 mines were successfully auctioned. The success of the auction is 50 per cent. I appeal to the state governments to co-operate with the bidders,” the minister said.

“The sooner these coal blocks are operationalised, the sooner the state governments will get revenue from these blocks,” Joshi said.

City gas relief

Oil sector regulator PNGRB has given up to eight-and-a-half months of extra time to companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, GAIL and Adani Gas to fulfil their city gas project rollout commitments that had been impacted by the lockdowns.