States To Gain 3.35 Lakh Crore On Coal Auctions

KOLKATA: Citing the ongoing coal auctions as a "true example of federalism", union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup on said the states will be getting a whopping 3.35 lakh crore on account of the coal auctions.

"Of the 67 (coal) blocks auctioned and allotted so far, the states will be getting 3.35 lakh crore revenue and another 69,000 crore will be unlocked by way of tariff benefit to the consumers," Swarup told media persons on the sidelines of an interactive event organised here by the Coal Consumers' Association of India.

Till the conclusion of the actions held so far, a revenue of nearly 20 lakh crore has been generated.

"This is a true example of federalism. The entire money generated from the auctions is going to the states while the union government is organising the auctions," he said.

Swarup said that although washeries are featuring in the list of possible bidders for the auction, they will soon be struck off in a forthcoming amendment to the coal bill.

Until now, 29 blocks have been auctioned and another 38 has been allotted to the state-owned entities.

"We will also allot mines to the individual states for commercial mining," he said.

Further, the coal department will allot Chhattisgarh and Odisha dedicated mines to meet their requirements for the sponge iron industry.

For the next round of auctions due in the third week of April, a total of 16 blocks will be put up for bidding of which 11 will be for the power sector and the remaining for the "non-regulated sector".

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