Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Tuesday rejected the power ministry's proposal of stopping e-auction of the dry fuel, saying the electronic route for selling coal needs to be continued for meeting the demands of small users.

"Apart from power, steel and cement, there are a lot of sectors where coal is required. Coal India is required to meet their needs as well. Hence, it is not possible to stop the e-auction," Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi. Power Ministry had earlier requested the coal ministry to stop e-auctioning of coal to meet the requirement of the sector. "Small users' need is also to be addressed. If stopped, we would not be able to supply coal to them," he said.

Power firms currently have 12 days of coal stock, the minister said, adding that given the current state of affairs in the coal sector, this was not a bad achievement.

Coal distribution through e-auction was introduced to provide access to coal for such consumers who are not able to source it through the available institutional mechanisms due to seasonality of requirement, limited needs not warranting long-term linkage, etc. E-auctioning of coal also fetches a good return for the state-run Coal India, which sold 47 million tonnes last fiscal, raking in Rs 8,800 crore out of its total revenue of around Rs 50,000 crore. CIL sells around 10 per cent of its production through the e-auction route.

To a query on starting coal blocks bidding in lines of National Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) for oil and gas blocks auctioning, Jaiswal said that his ministry would soon take the shareholders' views before flagging it off. "However, we will just take their views. The competitive bidding of the coal blocks will happen. It will not depend upon their views," he said. The minister also said the policy on allocation of small and isolated coal and lignite blocks has been finalised and would be placed in the public domain. Besides, Jaiswal said, policy guidelines on disposal of surplus coal were under preparation. He exuded confidence that the coal distribution policy, which is to be reviewed on June 6, is likely to be finalised in two to three months.

The minister also said that a high-powered committee under the chairmanship of Coal Secretary C Balakrishnan has been monitoring the implementation of Jharia and Raniganj Master Plan involving an investment of around Rs 10,000 crore.