Monnet Power bags Utkal C coal block for `9,537 crore

Monnet Power Company bagged the Utkal C mine in Odisha on Monday - 5th day of the second phase of coal block auctions - for an estimated Rs 9,537.22 crore, while the bidding for Lohari block continued.

The cumulative revenue to the exchequer has reached Rs 1.74 lakh crore from the sale of 32 mines so far, including Rs 1 lakh crore from sale of 19 mines in the first tranche. “Utkal C coal block closes at (Rs) 770 (a tonne),” said Coal Secretary Anil Swarup.

According to information available on the official website for the coal auctions, the Utkal C was bagged by Monnet Power Company Ltd with a closing bid of Rs 770 a tonne. Utkal C has an extractable reserve of 123.86 million tonnes (MT). It was previously allotted to Utkal Coal Ltd. Auction for Utkal C block for power sector under Talcher coalfield in Angul district of Odisha, began at 11 am with a Rs 100 a tonne bid. For Lohari, the auction began at Rs 1,690 per tonne,” an official said. In the race for Utkal C were Adani Power, Adani Power Maharashtra, DB Power, Essar Power Gujarat, GMR Mining and Energy, Jindal India Thermal Power, Jindal Power, KSK Mahanadi Power Company, Lalitpur Power Generation Company, LANCO Barbandh Power, RKM Powergen, Sesa Sesa Sterlite, Sheesham Commercial and Simhapuri Energy. For the Lohari block in Palamu district of Jharkhand, there are 7 players in the race - Araanya Mines, Easternrange Coal Mining, Rungta Mines, SKP Mining, Tata Sponge Iron, Trimula Industries and Usha Martin. It has extractable reserve of 9.04 MT and was previously allotted to Usha Martin.

In the first four days of the second tranche of auction, government has sold 12 mines mostly in eastern states to firms like Adani, Hindalco, JSW and Jindal for Rs 43,307 crore. The blocks sold in the second tranche include Ganeshpur, Mandla South, Gare Palma Sector 1V/8, Dumri, Tara, Nerad Malegaon, Mandakini, Meral, Jitpur, Moitra, Brinda and Sasai. There are two methods of bidding for auction of coal blocks -- forward bidding (for unregulated sectors like steel, cement and captive power) and reverse bidding (for specified end use for power generation).