New Delhi, Nov 2 (IANS): The much-anticipated auctions for commercial mining of coal started on Monday with five coal mines put on the block.

According to the Coal Ministry, the mining blocks put on auction generated wide interest from bidders who had submitted their bids for various blocks on offer.

Hindalco has put the highest bid for Chakla mine in Jharkhand, while Vedanta was the highest bidder for Radhikapur West mine in Odisha.

Aurobindo Realty and Infrastructure was the highest bidder for Takli Jena Bellora North and Takli Jena Bellora South in Maharashtra.

Yazdani International and JMS Mining were the highest bidder for Marki-Mangli II (Maharashtra) and Urtan (Madhya Pradesh) coal blocks, respectively.

A Coal Ministry statement said that first day of auction of coal mines for sale of coal saw strong and healthy competition among the bidders.

The ministry had launched the auction of coal mines for commercial mining on June 18, pursuant to a two stage forward auction process, comprising of initial offer and final offer, wherein the bidders have to bid for the percentage revenue share over the reserve price.

In all the mines auctioned, the final offer received is above 10 per cent signalling strong demand of coal mines in the market, it said.