New Delhi, Feb 20 (PTI) Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Rungta Sons are among the 27 companies which have submitted bids for coal blocks put up for commercial mines auction, the government said on Tuesday.

"A total of 27 companies including major companies like Tata Steel Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, Rungta Sons Pvt Ltd., etc. have submitted their bids in the auction process," the coal ministry said in a statement.

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Other companies which submitted bids include ACC Ltdd, J K Cement and Thriveni Earthmovers.

A total of 27 coal mines have been put up for auction in the ninth round of auction. A total of 33 bids were received for 13 coal mines.

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Under the second attempt of the seventh round of auction, a total of five coal mines were put up for auction and seven bids were received against three coal mines, the coal ministry said.

"The online bids were decrypted and opened electronically in the presence of the bidders. Subsequently, sealed envelopes containing offline bid documents were also opened in the presence of bidders. Entire process was displayed on the screen for the bidders," the ministry said.

The bids will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary technical evaluation committee and technically qualified bidders will be shortlisted for participation in the auction, to be conducted on MSTC portal.

In 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the auction process for 41 coal blocks for commercial mining, a move that opened India's coal sector for private players.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)