New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS): The Coal Ministry clarified on Friday that the Tara Coal Block in Chhattisgarh was excluded from auction in July 2023 after considering the concerns raised by the state government about the Lemru elephant corridor forming part of the area, and was considered for auction again only after the state’s December 2025 communication and after the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) revised the block boundary to remove the wildlife area.
Therefore, the media reports on the auction do not present the complete facts and overlook important developments that led to the auction of Tara (Revised) Coal Block, the ministry statement said.
“Recently, reports have appeared in the media on the auction of the Tara Coal block. These reports are misleading, and incomplete facts have been used in these reports. These reports do not take into account the important developments that took place after 2023, which ultimately led to the auction of Tara (Revised) Coal Block in 2026,” it said.
“It is a fact that the Tara coal block offered under the 7th Tranche in 2023 was taken out of commercial coal mine auctions as a letter was received from the Government of Chhattisgarh for the exclusion of coal blocks in the Hasdeo Arand area from the commercial coal mine auctions. Accordingly, the coal blocks in the Hasdeo Arand area having overlap with the Lemru elephant corridor were not offered in the subsequent tranches of commercial coal mine auctions.”
However, subsequently, a letter dated December 11, 2025 was received from the Chhattisgarh government, seeking inclusion of the Tara coal block as “the coal block is outside the Lemru Elephant Corridor, and the coal block may be offered in the upcoming tranche of auction”.
Accordingly, the coal block was put up for auction under the 15th round of commercial coal mine auction, duly removing the influence zone of the Lemru elephant corridor, and has been successfully auctioned, the statement said.
The ministry further stated that the coal block has gathered a lot of interest from the market. A total of 9 bids were received for the coal block under the 15th round. Auctioned at a revenue share of 37.5 per cent, the coal block is expected to generate annual revenue of more than Rs 1,200 crore for the state and generate employment for more than 8.000 people.
