New Delhi: Government is expected to soon come out with an "Approach Paper" to elicit views of stakeholders on the process of auction of coal blocks.
"We may shortly release the Approach Paper to auction of coal mines to seek comments of the stake holders before finalising the document," a top official said.
The government had last week finalised the rules for the auction of 204 coal mines that were deallocated by the Supreme Court.
The rules pave the way for auction of 92 coal blocks, including 42 under production, in the first phase of bidding on February 11.
The the Lok Sabha had last week also passed a bill which provides for fresh auction of 204 coal blocks de-allocated by the Supreme Court in September, with the government allaying apprehensions of some parties that the legislation would lead to privatisation of the sector.
Out of the 92 coal blocks to be alloted and auctioned in the first lot, 57 mines would be given to the power sector, while the rest would be for sectors like steel and cement, the government had earlier said.
Of the 57 blocks to be allotted and auctioned for the power sector, 23 will be considered for allotment to states and the rest will be put for auction.
The apex court had termed the allocation of 204 mines since 1993 as "arbitrary and illegal".
The government has already made it clear that the number of mines a company can bid will be capped to avoid monopoly.
