Battered govt decides to auction coal blocks

A Coalgate-battered government on Tuesday approved a transparent policy for auctioning coal blocks envisaging upfront as well as production-linked payments, much in line with the route followed for offering oil and gas concessions for exploration. According to the policy approved by the Cabinet's panel on economic affairs, there would be a basic upfront payment. This would be 10% of a block's intrinsic value. Besides, the successful bidder would have to pay government on each tonne of coal produced. 

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