SHILLONG, Feb 24: The Meghalaya government has issued the notice for auctioning the extracted coal in the state and invited interested bidders to register themselves with MSTC Limited through spot e-auction.
“I am happy to inform that today the state government under the mining and geology department issued the auction notice of coal in the entire state in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court dated July 3, 2019,” Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said on Wednesday.
Pointing out that there are two parts to the auction notice, the deputy CM said, “This is a general one and it means that those interested parties or bidders need to register themselves with MSTC Limited through spot e-auction, and once that is done and they are registered, the second step is that they will get the details of slots as we have different slots”.
“We have created a dumping yard, and suppose in East Jaintia Hills we have six to seven slots, then those interested parties will go and inspect, then assess and ultimately go for the bidding and participate because the highest bidder will be considered,” he said.
He further said that with the state government issuing the auction notice, the concerned interested parties could start registering themselves with MSTC Ltd.
Tynsong also reiterated that the auction of coal would start soon from East Jaintia Hills followed by other districts.
According to the notification, e-auction of extracted coal in Meghalaya has commenced according to the Supreme Court order dated July 3, 2019 in civil appeal number 10720 of 2018.
The auction of extracted coal will be conducted through the MSTC portal (www.mstcecommerce.com/coalauctionhome/mcoal/index.jsp), according to a notification issued by the Mining and Geology department.
Interested buyers can register in the MSTC Ltd portal for the e-auction.
The comprehensive plan (dated August 24, 2020) and scheme for sale of extracted coal in Meghalaya through spot e-auction can be obtained from the website https://megdmg.gov.in and helpline numbers: 033-40645207/40645316.
It may be mentioned that of the total coal to be auctioned, 75,000 metric tonnes (MT) is in East Jaintia Hills, 50,000 MT in South Khasi Hills, 25,000 MT in South West Khasi Hills and 50,000 MT is in South Garo Hills district.
Based on the Supreme Court’s July 3 ruling, an NGT (National Green Tribunal) committee had, on a pilot basis, approved the auction of 2 lakh MT of the 32 lakh MT of coal in the state.
The government expects to generate a royalty cess and GST worth Rs 21 crore through the auction.