Under pressure from the prime minister’s office, India’s Ministry of Coal has sped up its plan to auction around 27 coal blocks, holding 3 billion metric tons (mt) of reserves in March. The auctions were to be held in January but got delayed after the ministry of the environment turned down the demand of the finance and coal ministries to issue letters of comfort to prospective bidders that it would give all the requisite approvals within a fixed time frame. Prospective bidders have argued that if they are expected to give performance guarantees that oblige them to pay penalties in case they delay in developing the mines, government agencies should also be held accountable if companies suffer losses on account of procedural delays. The finance ministry has been specific in demanding that all bidders come up with performance guarantees. Officials added that bidders would be asked to quote a percentage of the revenue share of each mine they would give to the government as their bids. Whoever offers a higher percentage of revenue will win the bid. The revenue will be determined by multiplying production with the average of five years of international prices of coal of similar calorific value.

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