The Ministry of Coal on Friday informed that out of 91 mines auctioned so far, six commercial mines have already started coal production and another three are likely to start production in a couple of months.

The ministry stated that the 91 coal mines are set to bring Rs 33,343 crore investment and three lakh employment opportunities in the country, considering production at aggregated Peak Rate Capacity level of 220.90 million tonne per annum (MTPA).

Once these mines are fully operational, they will generate employment for around three lakh persons, directly and indirectly.

The government has so far successfully completed seven rounds of auction under totally transparent online auction launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020.

Offering 31 coal mines of four states for auction, the 9th tranche of auction was launched in December, 2023. Mines pertaining to coal/lignite-bearing states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana come under the 9th tranche of auction.

The Ministry of Coal has so far successfully completed seven rounds of auction.

The Union government bets heavily on the commercial coal mining, expecting it to bring new investments to the country. It said the entire revenue accrued from the auctions would be allocated to the coal-bearing states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.

Notably, the Index of Coal Industry has achieved a growth of 10.9 per cent among the eight core industries during the month of November 2023.

The Coal Sector has achieved 185.7 points in November compared to 167.5 points same time last year. The cumulative index of coal sector during April to November, 2023-24 has increased by 12.8 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Last month, the Ministry of Coal also informed that the coal production from Captive/Commercial mines from Year 2015-16 to 2020-23 has increased from about 28.62 MT to 116.55 MT with a CAGR of 22.21 per cent and it is expected to touch a figure of about 145 MT in FY 23-24.

By FY 2030 coal production is expected to reach to the level of about 350 MT from captive/commercial which will be just next to production from CIL.

The contribution of captive and commercial mines in the total domestic production in Year FY 22-23 is about 13 per cent and it will enhance to about 25 per cent in FY 2030.