Odisha gets ₹37,000-cr coal blocks' bonanza

The current round of coal block auctioning for the non-regulated sector has fetched four states about ₹43,000 crore over the life of the mines from the extractable reserves; Odisha got the lion share of about ₹37,000 crore, while Vedanta turned out to be the highest bidder at ₹1,674 per ton for the Jamkhani block with 222 million tons extractable coal in Odisha. ICRA informed that Chhattisgarh will get about ₹5,200 crore from two blocks — Gare Palma–IV/1 and Bhaskarpara, and West Bengal will gain about ₹900 crore from the Jaganathpur-B block, for which Powerplus Traders made the highest bid of ₹185 per ton for 50 million tons of extractable coal reserves. Madhya Pradesh is expected to receive ₹490 crore as the estimated extractable reserves as its two blocks are very small. It will be split between Bikram coal block that has 20 million tons and Brahampuri block with 12 million tons. Birla Corporation was the highest bidder for both with ₹154 per ton for Bikram coal block and ₹156 per ton for Brahampuri coal block. States will also benefit from additional revenue streams like royalty on Coal India's notified prices, besides the auction premium to be paid by the winning bidder.