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The government has started the fourth round of coal mine auctions for commercial mining on Thursday, with 99 blocks up for grabs. There will be a total of 99 mines on offer, according to the ministry of coal, with mines rolling over from the third round of commercial auctions and the second attempt of the second tranche of commercial auctions. The minister also urged officials to locate additional coal blocks for auction. Joshi went on to say that coal will continue to be important in India's energy sector for at least the next 30 to 40 years. There are 59 fully explored mines and 40 partially explored mines among the 99 available. These mines are located in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana, which are all coal-producing states. After extensive deliberation, the list of mines was finalised, and mines in protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, critical habitats, areas with greater than 40% forest cover, heavily built-up areas, and other areas were excluded. The introduction of the National Coal Index, ease of participation with no requirement for prior coal mining experience, full flexibility in coal utilisation, optimised payment structures, efficiency in promotion through incentives for early production, and use of clean coal technology are all key features of the auction process. With a focus on sustainability, the ministry is considering additional incentives. The MSTC auction platform has information about the mines, auction terms, and timelines, among other things. The auction will be held online in a two-stage transparent process based on Percentage Revenue Share. This will be the 14th round of the CMSP Act auction, and the fourth tranche of the MMDR Act auction. SBI Capital Markets Limited, the Ministry of Coal's sole transaction advisor for the commercial coal mine auction, developed the methodology and is assisting the ministry with the auction. As many as 35 coal mines are up for auction under the CMSP Act's 14th tranche, while 64 are up for auction under the MMDR Act's fourth tranche. As many as 24 of these 99 mines are new coal mines, while the remaining 75 are rollover mines from previous auctions. Following the successful auction of 28 coal mines in the first two tranches, and the receipt of 53 bids for 20 coal mines under CMSP Act tranches 13 and 14. The ministry has now begun the auction process for 24 new mines under Section 3 of the MMDR Act. Nine of the 24 mines are covered by CMSP Act tranche 14 and 15 by MMDR Act tranche four. Image Source Also read: Coal imports in India surge 12.6% to 107.34 mt in first half of FY22