India has received bids from 22 companies, including Jindal Steel and Power and Hindalco Industries, for the commercial extraction of coal from 18 thermal and coking coal mines, the Ministry of Coal said on Wednesday.
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Most of the mines have reserves of thermal coal used in power generation, while one has the variety used in the process of making steel. Half of the mines are fully explored and the others partially, the ministry said in a statement.
The total capacity of the fully explored mines is 47.8 million tonnes per year.
The other bidders include Sunflag Iron and Steel, miner NLC India, the mining unit of power company NTPC , and cement and ready-mix concrete company Nuvoco Vistas.
The government wants private players to boost coal production in the country as power demand surges. State-run Coal India dominates coal mining in the country.