JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Adani Group-backed ACC and JK Cement are among the 27 companies to submit bids for coal mines under the latest round of coal mine auctions, including the ninth round and the second attempt for the seventh round.

As per the Union Ministry of Coal, under ninth round, 27 coal mines were on offer for auction, and 33 bids were received against 13 coal mines. Under the second attempt of seventh round, five coal mines were called for auction, and seven bids were received against three coal mines. Among the mines offered under the ninth round, Dumri in Jharkhand received six bids, followed by Lamatola in Madhya Pradesh with five bids and Baisi in Chhattisgarh with four bids.

Among the companies, Rungta Sons submitted the highest number of bids, with bids for five mines, followed by JSW Steel and JK Cement which have submitted bids for four mines each. Tata Steel has bid for two mines, while ACC has placed bids for one mine.

In the current FY, the government seeks for a production target of 162 MT of coal from the captive and commercial mines. Centre expects a production of 186.63 MT coal from captive and commercial coal mines during FY24-25. Moreover, there are plans for production to be further stepped up to 225.69 MT during FY26, with an eventual target of 383.56 MT by FY29-30.

As of December 2023, there were 50 captive and commercial coal mines under production, out of which 32 mines were allocated to the power sector, 11 to the non-regulated sector, and seven mines were for the sale of coal.