Coal India Awards 23 Closed Mines To Private Bidders
The cumulative peak rated capacity of these mines is 34.14 million tonne per year.
Coal India Ltd. has awarded 23 mines on revenue sharing model to successful bidders from the private sector, in a bid to tap the latent coal reserves of some of its closed and discontinued underground mines. The cumulative peak rated capacity of these mines is 34.14 million tonne per year. Total extractable reserves are estimated at 635 million tonne, according to an exchange filing.
Earlier, the company had identified a total of 34 discontinued mines, where good quality coal reserves were lying dormant, but were not financially viable for Coal India to mine. The miner has decided to tender and offer these mines to willing private sector players, who are prepared to operate and produce the dry fuel and share part of the revenue with the CIL.
The minimum revenue to be shared is 4%. The contract period is for a maximum of 25 years.
Of the 34 identified mines, West Bengal-based Eastern Coalfields Ltd. and Jharkhand-based Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. account for 10 each. Western Coalfields Ltd. has five, South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. has four, Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. has three and Central Coalfields Ltd. has two mines.
CIL is also identifying few more mines for the purpose to attract wider participation with bid norms relaxed, the filing said.
On the total quantity of coal sold exclusively for coal gasification or coal liquefaction purpose in a year, 50% on contracted percentage of revenue share of the authority will be provided to the operator.
