Coal India plans to invite global bids for projects at Jharia in Jharkhand and Raniganj in West Bengal after board approval, he said. Adani, Essar and Reliance Industries have participated in a pre-bid meeting for Rs 37.50 billion coal bed methane (CBM) projects on revenue-sharing basis, a Coal India executive said.
Coal India plans to invite global bids for projects at Jharia in Jharkhand and Raniganj in West Bengal this week after board approval, he said. Coal India has decided to develop two CBM projects at subsidiaries, Bharat Coking Coal’s Jharia coalfields and Eastern Coalfields’ Raniganj coal blocks. The company is also considering new CBM projects at subsidiaries South Eastern Coalfields and Central Coalfields.
The company has decided to develop the projects on a revenue-share basis. Bidding will be on the basis of revenue they intend to share, with no floor for bidding. Subsidiaries will be responsible for procuring statutory and other clearances, he said.
In order to speed up the projects, exploration and consultancy arm, Central Mine Planning & Design Institute, was made the implementing agency for the proposed projects last week. It would be responsible for facilitating both projects
Coal India's Jharia block holds CBM reserves of 25 billion cubic metres and is expected to start production two years after it is initiated. The project is estimated to cost Rs 30 billion. The Raniganj project in West Bengal holds around 3 billion cubic meters of CBM trapped in coal seams that can be viably extracted and sold in the market. This project is estimated to cost Rs 7.50 billion.
