Coal Ministry Launches 16th Round of Commercial Coal Mine Auctions

The Ministry of Coal launched the 16th round of commercial coal mine auctions in New Delhi on 17 September 2026. Satish Chandra Dubey, Minister of State for Coal and Mines, was the chief guest. Vikram Dev Dutt, Secretary in the Ministry of Coal, was also present.

What the round offers

The round puts 25 coal blocks on the table. Of these, 21 are fully explored and four are partly explored. The blocks lie in nine coal-bearing states. These are Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal. Six mines are offered under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act. The remaining 19 come under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act.

Terms for bidders

The commercial mining framework is deliberately liberal. There is no end-use restriction on the coal produced. Foreign investment of 100 per cent is allowed through the automatic route. Upfront payments are low and can be adjusted against future revenue share. Experienced miners, first-time entrants and technology-led firms may all bid.

Agreements handed over

The Minister also handed Coal Mine Development and Production Agreements, known as CMDPAs, to the winners of six mines auctioned in earlier rounds. The six are Tara (Revised), Margo West, Margo East, Mandla South, Dongeri Tal-II and the Dip Side of PKoC. The winning bidders include CG Syn-Gas and Chemicals, Jharkhand Exploration and Mining Corporation, Qube Commercial, Gallant Ispat and The Singareni Collieries.

What the six mines will bring

The programme so far

Commercial coal mining was opened up in 2020. Sixteen rounds have now been completed. A total of 147 coal mines have been auctioned to date. Together they are expected to yield yearly revenue of more than Rs 47,500 crore. Projected capital investment crosses Rs 55,000 crore across the nine coal states. The Minister said coal meets about 55 per cent of India's primary energy need and over 70 per cent of its electricity generation. He added that coal output has crossed one billion tonnes for a second year running.