Coal Ministry would be launching the fourteenth round of commercial coal mine auctions Wednesday (October 29, 2025). Other than offering a fresh set of fully and partially explored blocks for auction, the latest round would be for the first time introducing provisions for underground coal gasification (UGC) within the framework.

UGC as a method of coal mining entails converting the carbon fuel, in deep-seated reserves, into a gas mixture, that is, synthetic gas or syngas, whilst the coal or lignite remains intact underground. Referring to the latest provisions for UGC, the coal ministry held, “This innovate step is expected to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and crude oil while unlocking new avenues for investment, technological advancement and employment generation across related sectors.”

The commercial auction framework was launched in 2020 to “foster transparency, drive competition, and increase coal availability for domestic industries, thereby reducing dependence on imports.” Since the inauguration of the auction framework, a total of 130 blocks have been accorded allocation orders for the mines secured at the auction. The blocks account for a cumulative peak rated capacity of about 267.24 million tonnes per annum.

Other than the launch of the latest round of auction, the coal ministry would also launch the Coal Land Acquisition, Management, and Payment (CLAMP) portal alongside the Koyla Shakti Dashboard. The former would be a central repository of land records meant to facilitate real-time data integration and monitoring across all coal PSUs. Whilst the dashboard would serve as a unified interface integrating the coal value chain from mine to markets to enhance efficiency and real-time coordination.