India has announced plans to auction off 41 coal mines which would put an end to 4 decades of state-controlled coal mining. The Indian government hopes the privatization of coal mining will solve a fuel shortage that is threatening the country. India has felt the economic toll steaming from the COVID-19 pandemic and they are hoping the auctions will also help aid the economic struggles.
According to the Ministry of Coal, the mines are set to generate roughly 70,000 new jobs and about $4.3 Billion of capital investment over the next five to seven years. The government also hopes to help the individual states generate revenue; the states are expected to generate about $2.6 Billion annually.
The auctions should generate a lot of interest from many domestic energy firms such as Essel Mining, Sesa Goa, JSW Energy, Vedanta, and Adani. There will also be significant interest from the global giants like Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Glencore. These auctions could also provide firms that are not currently in the mining sector to get their start as the terms and conditions are quite business friendly with lowered upfront costs and some more liberal parameters.
