New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal today announced the successful auction of three fully explored coal blocks under the 13th round of commercial coal mine auctions. The forward auctions, conducted between November 20 and November 25, 2025, resulted in all three blocks receiving successful bids, with the state-owned Damodar Valley Corporation emerging as the highest bidder for all three non-coking coal mines.
The auction round, which commenced on August 21, 2025, has successfully allocated three blocks with a combined geological reserve of approximately 3,306.58 million tonnes and a cumulative Peak Rated Capacity (PRC) of 49 million tonnes per annum (MTPA).
Odisha’s Mandakini-B non-coking coal block, with geological reserves of 1326.77 million tonnes and a PRC of 10.00 MTPA, was successfully auctioned to Damodar Valley Corporation with a final offer of 12.75% revenue share against a reserve price of 6.00%.
In addition to the Odisha block, Damodar Valley Corporation also secured two non-coking coal blocks in Jharkhand: Pirpainti Barahat (PRC: 25.00 MTPA, Geological Reserves: 798.56 million tonnes) and Dhulia North (PRC: 14.00 MTPA, Geological Reserves: 1181.25 million tonnes). Both Jharkhand blocks received a final offer of 5.50% revenue share against a reserve price of 4.00%.
These three successfully auctioned blocks are projected to generate an annual revenue of approximately ₹4,620.69 crore and are expected to attract capital investment of nearly ₹7,350 crore, creating an estimated 66,248 employment opportunities in the coal-bearing regions of Odisha and Jharkhand.
Since the beginning of commercial coal mining in 2020, the Ministry has now successfully auctioned a total of 136 coal blocks, significantly boosting domestic coal production and strengthening the nation’s push towards self-reliance in energy resources.