According to media reports, the government on September 15 stated that the auction of explored coal blocks may take place either by December or the beginning of the next year, A permission letter from the Ministry of Environment & Forests would be given to the successful bidder, Union Coal Secretary SK Srivastava said in Delhi.

A pilot project was being undertaken by the government to draft the modalities of bidding documents for selection of mine developers and operator (MDO) for certain mines of the PSU firm. Coal India (CIL) has already allocated one block for the pilot, he added.

MDO is a concept wherein a coal block owner contracts entire operations to a third party that takes responsibility of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation, mining, developing and operating the mine by investing in it.