New Delhi, Dec 18 (IANS): The government is putting up another 26 coal mines for commercial auction in the next round on December 20, the Ministry of Coal announced on Monday.

While 12 of the mines are in Madhya Pradesh, eight are in Chhattisgarh, five in Jharkhand, and one in Telangana.

The Ministry also said that seven mines are fully explored, while 19 are partially explored.

Three of these mines will be offered under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act 2015 (CMSP), while the other 23 mines will come under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act 1957, according to an official statement.

Unlike previous commercial coal mine auctions, there are no restrictions on the sale or utilisation of coal this time around.

For ease of doing business, the Ministry of Coal said it has conceptualised a single window clearance system portal to create a platform to obtain various clearances for the early operationalisation of coal mines, ultimately resulting in the augmentation of coal production in the country through a single gateway.

The government has undertaken several initiatives to scale up domestic coal production to meet the increased demand for the fuel in the fast-growing economy. In the current financial year, till November 2023, the country has produced about 591.40 MT of coal as compared to 524.72 MT during the same period of last year, with a growth of about 13 per cent.

As a result of increase in domestic production, coal import declined by 5 per cent during April to September 2023, as compared to the same period of the last financial year.