Audit Report No. 20 of 2016 of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG is on the Audit of e-Auction of Coal Mines. This audit was conducted at the Ministry of Coal (MOC), the Nominated Authority and other stakeholders i.e. MSTC Limited, Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO) at Kolkata and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) at Ranchi. The audit was conducted to ascertain the robustness and efficacy of the e-auction design and proper implementation of the planned e-auction process/procedures; and that the e-auction was conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
Audit examination was limited to the coal mines e-auctioned in the first two tranches. For the purpose of a comprehensive analysis of the e-auction and the mines allocated thereof, the audit covered allocations from the stage of design of the e-auction mechanism to the stage of production of coal and monitoring thereof. Audit observed that the new mechanism for e-auction of coal mines was an improvement over the earlier system and attempted to incorporate the principles of objectivity, transparency and fairness in allocation of natural resources to private sector participants. However, there were some systemic and procedural issues, which needed to be addressed for further improvement in the e-auction mechanism which has been highlighted in the Compliance Audit Report.