Bhubaneswar: Anil Agarwal-led mining and metal conglomerate Vedanta has been declared as the highest bidder for Ghogharpalli and its Dip Extension coal block, located in Sundargarh district, Odisha under Tranche V of commercial coal block auction conducted by Ministry of Coal.
“The coal block is an optimal fit for the Company’s Jharsuguda smelter given its logistical location and annual capacity. The mine has total reserves of 1,288 million tonnes and an estimated per annum capacity of 20 million tonnes. Once operational, it will provide fuel security, improve power availability and further strengthen the company’s aluminium operations and performance” the company said in a regulatory filing.
Meanwhile, the Rampia & its dip extension coal block has been bagged by Jhar Minral resources private limited.
It may be noted that, the Ministry of Coal had launched the auction of coal mines for commercial mining under second attempt of 4th Tranche of CMSP Act & MMDR Act and 5th Tranche of CMSP Act & MMDR Act on March 30, 2022. On the 1st and 2nd day of the e-auction, cumulative 10 coal mines were put up for auction of which 5 coal mines were CMSP coal mines and 5 coal mines were MMDR coal mines. Out of this, seven coal mines are fully explored coal mines and 3 coal mines are partially explored coal mines, the total geological reserves for these 10 coal mines are 3,445.76 Million Tonnes. Cumulative Peak Rate Capacity (PRC) for these coal mines is around 39.31 MTPA.