(PTI)
No steel company has shown interest in bidding for four coking coal blocks of 38 mines put on auction for commercial mining as they have concern about fuel quality and high capital cost, officials said on Friday.
Of the four blocks with coking coal, a key raw material for manufacturing of the metal, two received bids from companies which do not make steel, they said.
“Steel companies did not show interest in bidding for the coking coal blocks as the quality of the fuel from these mines is not very good and capital expenditure for mining is high. “Availability of capex (capital expenditure) funds is also limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. Import is a viable option,” an official of a steel company said on condition of anonymity.
He said, “The four mines were offered four times in the past for captive use but no steel makers had shown interest earlier. In this round, steel companies have not submitted bids.” The two coking coal mines that received bids are Brahamadiha in Jharkhand and Urtan in Madhya Pradesh, he claimed.
