The country’s largest iron ore producing company, the National Mineral Development Corp. (NMDC) Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Mineral Exploration Corp. Ltd (MECL) to collaborate and conduct exploration in mutually agreed projects for iron ore, gold, coal, diamond and other minerals across various states.

Of the 38 mines offered for auction, the Ministry of Coal received a total of 76 eligible bids for 23. The technical bids comprising online and offline bid documents as part of the auction were opened at 10.00 am on Wednesday. This was done in the presence of bidders who were given the option of joining the meeting in either in-person or virtually.

Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Anil Kumar Jain on Tuesday said that if the need arises, the government will spend Rs 500 billion to improve the coal evacuation infrastructure.

The coal policy certainly recognises the importance of energy in our economic growth and the government has initiated a few measures to support implementation.

The new coal policy is a forward-looking measure that would result in monetising of a natural resource, feel experts. It has the potential of boosting technology-aided private investments in the coal sector while also enhancing market access of coal for the downstream industrial segments of power, steel and cement.

In the past few weeks, the country has witnessed the inauguration of two important infrastructure projects — the Atal Tunnel in Himachal and the Kosi Rail Mahasetu in Bihar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India cannot become self-reliant without developing a robust minerals and mining sector.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the methodology for auction of coal and lignite mines or blocks for sale of coal and lignite on revenue sharing basis and increasing the tenure of coking coal linkage on Wednesday.

Industry chamber FICCI has welcomed the proposed reforms in coal and mining sector and said these measures would give a push towards government’s efforts for improving efficiencies in coal sector for augmenting domestic coal production and reducing the cost of power for the consumers.