Ministry of Coal of Republic of India : Public Notice Seeking Comments on Draft Coal Blocks Allocation Rules Proposed to be Notified under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 I'MMDR Act'].

No. 11022/01/ 2015-CA-III Gover nment of India Minist ry of Coal

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Shastri Bhawa n, New Delhi

20.01.2017

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject : Public Not ice Seeking Comment s on Draft Coal Blocks Allocation Rules Proposed to be Notified under t he Mines and Minerals {Development and Regulat ion) Act, 1957 ['MMDR Act '].

The Centra l Government had notified the Auction by Co mpetitive Bidding of Coa l Mines Rules, 2012 on 2nd Februa ry, 2012 ['2012 Rules'] in exercise of power conferred by Section 13(2)(d) of the MMDR Act for

selection of a compa ny under Section lA of the MMDR Act a nd related

matters thereto. The 2012 Rules have been amended from time to time.

1. SectionlA a nd Section 13(2)(d) of the MMDR Act have been a mended by the ScheduleIV of the Coa l Mines (Specia l Provisions) Act, 2015 ['CMSP Act'] which necessitates a mendments in the 2012 Rules;

2. Accordingly, in exe rcise of the powers conferred under Section 13(1) a nd 13(2)(d) of the MMDR Act, draft Coa l Blocks Alloca tion Rules have been fra med for replacing the 2012 Rules. The draft Rules have been fra med to bring the provisions in line with the provisions of Coa l Mines (Specia l Provisions) Rules, 2014 to bring uniformity in the processes.

3. The draft Coa l Blocks Alloca tion Rules is hereby placed in the website of the Ministry of Coa l (www.coa l.nic .in). The members of the public a nd sta keho lders concerned a re requested to submit their comments a nd suggestions on the draft Rules to the ema il id : cal.moc@ nic.in upto 16:00 hour s of 20.02.2017.

Encl.: Draft Coal Blocks Allocation Rules.

(Risha n Ry t hia ng) Under Secreta ry to the Government ofIndia

Copy to :

TD (NIC) - with the request to upload this Notice in the website of MoC.

[To be published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i)] GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the , 2017

G.S.R. (E). - WHEREAS the Central Government had notified the Auction by Competitive Bidding of Coal Mines Rules, 2012 on 2nd February, 2012 in exercise of power conferred by clause (d) of sub-section (2) of Section 13 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957), as amended from time to time, for specifying the terms and conditions of auction by competitive bidding for selection of the company under Section 11A the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957) and related matters thereto;

AND WHEREAS Section 11A and clause (d) of sub-section (2) of Section 13 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957) have been amended by the Part B of Schedule IV of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 (11 of 2015) which necessitated amendments in the Auction by Competitive Bidding of Coal Mines Rules, 2012;

NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 13 and clause (d) of sub-section (2) of Section 13 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957) and in supersession of the Auction by Competitive Bidding of Coal Mines Rules, 2012, the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:-

CHAPTER I: SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT

1. Short title and commencement.- (1)These rules may be called the Coal Blocks Allocation Rules, 20161.

   (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Definitions.- (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-

3. "Act" means the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957);

4. "affiliate" with respect to any person shall mean any other person which, directly or indirectly: (1) controls such person; or (2) is controlled by such person; or (3) is controlled by the same person who, directly or indirectly, controls such person; or (4) is an associate company of such Person. In such context, "associate company", in relation to another company, means a company in which that other company has a significant

   1 Title shortened. OR 'Allocation of Coal Blocks Rules' may be considered.

   influence, but which is not a subsidiary company of the company having such influence and includes a joint venture company. For the purposes of this clause, "significant influence" means control of at least twenty per cent of total share capital, or of business decisions under an agreement.

5. "allocation" means allotment and auction referred together;

6. "allotment" means allotment of coal blocks under clause (a) and (b) of the proviso to Section 11A of the Act;

7. "allocation order" means the allocation order referred to in sub-rule (5) of rule 8;

8. "allotment document" means the document referred to in sub-rule (1) of rule 6;

9. "auction" means public auction of coal blocks under sub-section (1) of Section 11A of the Act;

10. "bidder" means a company or corporation which participate in auction of coal blocks;

11. "block dossier" means the block dossier as referred to in sub-rule (1) of rule 4;

12. "ceiling price" means the price fixed by the Central Government for a coal block which is to be allocated by way of reverse auction;

13. "coal" includes anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat, coking coal, coke and any other form of carbonaceous matter sold or marketed as coal;

14. "coal block" means an area containing coal which has been identified in accordance with clause (a) of sub-rule (1) of rule 3;

15. "coal linkage" includes a fuel supply agreement or letter of assurance for supply of coal entered with or granted to a company or corporation from the coal producing Government company or corporation including Coal India Limited and Singareni Collieries Company Limited;

16. "control" shall include the right to appoint majority of the directors or to control the management or policy decisions exercisable by a person or persons acting individually or in concert, directly or indirectly, including by virtue of their shareholding or management rights or shareholders agreements or voting agreements or in any other manner.

17. "floor price" means the price fixed by the Central Government for a coal block which is to be allocated by way of forward auction;

18. "forward auction" means the method of auction where the bidders shall be required to successively quote the bid higher than the floor price, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the tender document;

19. "group" shall mean two or more group companies.

20. "group company" means a company which is an affiliate of another company.

21. "infrastructure special purpose vehicle" means an entity incorporated by the nodal agency designated by the Central Government for the purposes of Ultra Mega Power Projects. The infrastructure special purpose vehicle shall:

22. hold the land required for the construction of the Ultra Mega Power Project and grant the said land under lease or licence to the operating special purpose vehicle;

23. hold the allocation of the domestic captive coal block and grant the mining, development and operation rights of the said domestic captive coal block to the operating special purpose vehicle.

24. "operating special purpose vehicle" means an entity incorporated by the nodal agency designated by the Central Government for the purpose of an Ultra Mega Power Project. The operating special purpose vehicle shall:

25. be transferred to the awardee of an Ultra Mega Power Project on the basis of competitive bids for tariff for the execution of the Ultra Mega Power Projects;

26. execute the power purchase agreement with the distribution licensee(s) for execution of the Ultra Mega Power Project;

27. hold the land required for the construction of the Ultra Mega Power Project on lease basis acquired in the name of infrastructure special purpose vehicle; act as a mine development operator of the captive coal mine allocated to the infrastructure special purpose vehicle.

28. "person" shall include any company or association or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not;

29. "preferred allottee" means the preferred allottee as referred to in sub-rule (8) of rule 6;

30. "preferred bidder" means the preferred bidder as referred to in sub-rule (6) of rule 5;

31. "reverse auction" means the method of auction where the bidders shall be required to successively quote the bid lower than the ceiling price, , subject to such conditions as may be specified in the tender document;

32. "reserve price" means the price fixed by the Central Government for a coal block allocated by way of allotment or by way of reverse auction;

33. "rules" means the Coal Blocks Allocation Rules, 2016;

34. "successful allocatee" means successful bidder and successful allottee referred together;

35. "successful allottee" means the successful allottee as referred to in sub-rule (9) of rule 6;