'Govt sells 83 coal mines, gets Rs 2,779 crore'

New Delhi: The government has so far generated a revenue of approximately Rs 2,779 crore from the auction and allotment of 83 coal blocks, Parliament was informed today.

"Till now, 83 coal mines have been allocated to private and public sector under the provisions of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015. So far, a revenue of Rs 2,779.36 crore (approx) has already been generated," Minister of state for Coal, Power, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal said in a reply to Rajya Sabha.

The amount, he said, is being transferred to the respective state governments where the coal mines are located, he said.

"Revenue which would accrue to the coal bearing state government concerned from allocation of coal mines under the provisions of the said Act comprises upfront payment as prescribed in the tender/allotment document, auction/allotment proceeds and royalty on per tonne of coal production," the Minister said in a separate reply.

He further said that as no auctions were conducted earlier for allocation of coal mines, no revenue accrued to the exchequer on this account.

The three rounds of mines auction were held after the Supreme Court in 2014 cancelled the allotment of 204 coal blocks.

The fourth round of coal block auctions for the non-regulated sector was cancelled in view of the prevalent market conditions which included sharp decline in e-auction price of coal from Coal India as well as international freight on board (FOB) price of non-coking coal among other factors, Goyal had earlier said.