New Delhi: The allocation of coal blocks, including through the ongoing auction, will fetch a whopping Rs 15 lakh crore over the next 30 years, for the respective states, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Thursday.
He further said that bidding for coal mines would also ensure adequate fuel supply to end-use plants.
"The important thing is that post these auctions (of coal block) there will be three to four very important changes...Overall the entire economy will get a push with adequate fuel reaching these end-use plants," Goyal told reporters here.
Post auctions, he said, the country would also see the power costs coming down because the benefit of the auction will have to be passed on to the consumers.
The Eastern part of the country, particularly Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh will get significant amount of revenues from the auction of the mines which would help them to develop faster.
"At the end of the fifth day (of the auction of blocks), we are looking at about Rs 60,000 crores in the next 30 years accruing to the state governments," Goyal said.
The Minister further said that the mines on auction are very small and producing blocks as a result the "pricing was a little more aggressive."
"...So, we will have to look at a more sustainable valuation once the process of of schedule III mines (ready to produce) is also underway," he added.
"But it certainly gives me confidence that we are not looking at anything less than... (Rs) 15 lakh crore coming out of these 204 coal blocks as they start producing over the next 30 years," he said.
The government has put on offer 19 coal blocks in the first lot for auction. Of these, a total of 15 blocks have been sold so far.
The government is auctioning the coal blocks after the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 204 mines in September last year.
