The Kuraloi (A) North coal block, in Jharsuguda district of Odisha, has received one bid in the latest auction. None of the other three coal blocks that were being auctioned in this round received any bids, the Coal Ministry said in a release on Thursday.

The auction process for four coal blocks — Chendipada, Chendipada-II, Kuraloi (A) North, and Seregarha — had been launched on December 9 by the Nominated Authority and the last date for submission of bids was January 27. The bids were opened on January 28 in the presence of the representative of bidders.

Also read: FIMI debunks mine auction process; blames it for raw material shortage

This was the second attempt of auction for these coal blocks, after the previous attempt was annulled as it did not receive at least two technically qualified bids. Seregarha block is located in Jharkhand, while the other three are in Odisha.

The bids will be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary Technical Evaluation Committee and further actiontaken in accordance with the provisions of the tender document, the Ministry said.