The Coal Ministry launched the 15th round of commercial coal mine auctions, aiming to bolster energy security for India's growing economy. The focus is on increasing production, sustainable mine closure, and exploring underground coal gasification.
The Ministry of Coal announced the launch of the 15th round of commercial coal mine auctions on Friday during a stakeholder consultation aimed at achieving energy security. Secretary of the Union Ministry of Coal, Vikram Dev Dutt, noted that the government remains focused on meeting the coal requirements of a growing economy. He mentioned that production must continue to increase to support the power sector and broader economic growth.
"I need not labour the point as to why we need to utilize our very abundant coal reserves because in a growing economy with a growing appetite, multiple sectors, power sector and all other sectors which drive the economy. There is no gain in only saying that coal production has to ascend the trajectory at the rate at which it is ascending and possibly further accelerate the growth trajectory," he said addressing the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat: Coal for Energy Security' consultation.
Sustainable Mining and Community Engagement
The Secretary also discussed the importance of mine closure and community engagement. He said the goal is to create a harmonious ecosystem that restores livelihoods and economic opportunities after mining activities finish. "It's the co-creation of a very livable habitat, restoring livelihoods, restoring economic opportunities and after mining is done, even in a progressive way, assumes very important dimensions," Dutt explained.
Exploring New Frontiers: Coal Gasification
The consultation also covered the progress of coal gasification projects under the viability gap funding scheme approved in early 2024. Dutt highlighted that the ministry is now exploring underground coal gasification to utilize reserves that are otherwise difficult to mine. "We are also exploring the dimension of underground Coal gasification because we have 42% of our reserves which are deep seated where conventional underground mining is not economical. So underground coal gasification also for the first time blocks had been offered in the previous round of options and a small beginning is being made there as well. So while we are doing that concurrently, we lost more time in also evolving a framework for underground coal gasification for which of course we received some very useful suggestions," Dutt said.
Policy Reforms and Private Sector Participation
"The credit for this goes to the government led by Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, who started the structural reform story in the coal sector from 2014 onwards," he said.
Dutt also noted that the 2020 framework for commercial coal mining played a critical role in involving private players. "In the past year, we've had continuous rounds of very, very intensive interaction across multiple forums on multiple occasions. And you would also testify that in the last year we have significantly pressed the pedal on reform, on structural reform," Dutt said.
Evidence of Success
The Coal Secretary stated that the success of previous auction rounds serves as evidence of a functioning policy environment. He pointed to the steady rise in the number of bids and premiums as a sign of industry confidence. "The proof of the pudding as they say is always in the eating. So today we are launching the 15th round of commercial options, coal block options and with each successive round it is very gratifying to see that the number of participants, the number of bids and the premiums in the options has steadily risen," he said.
Collaborative Policy-Making
Dutt emphasized that the ministry does not develop policies in isolation; instead, it maintains a collaborative approach with industry participants. "The back room effort is always a collective and collaborative effort. It is not the Ministry of Coal sitting in a vacuum and rolling out a thought process. It is at every step, suggestions and contributions from you that have helped us evolve a framework which is continuously being nuanced," Dutt noted. (ANI)
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