Govt to begin round 3 of coal block auctions from third week of April

After the success of two rounds of coal blocks auction, the government on Wednesday said the third round for 16 mines will begin in April.

"The third tranche of coal block auction will commence from third week of April," Coal Secretary Anil Swarup told PTI.

"Of the 16 mines, 11 would be for the power sector and five for non-power. Most of the clearances of the coal blocks (to be auctioned in the third lot) are there," he said.

The government had recently auctioned coal blocks in two phases. Earlier in the day, Swarup tweeted that states will receive Rs 466 crore as first tranche from auction of coal blocks, while the Centre will not keep any revenue from this upfront payment by bidders.

Government has garnered over Rs 2 lakh crore by auctioning just 29 blocks in two phases, surpassing the presumptive loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore estimated earlier by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for allotment of mines without auction.

Parliament had in March approved Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, which forms part of NDA government's reforms agenda.