New Delhi, July 20 -- The government on Monday said it has allocated 132 commercial coal blocks since the launch of commercial coal mine auctions in June 2020 as part of its strategy to raise domestic coal production and reduce dependence on imports.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Coal and Mines Satish Chandra Dubey said, "Following the launch of commercial coal mine auctions in June 2020, a total of 132 coal blocks have been allocated under the commercial coal mining."

The minister added that "out of these 23 coal blocks have obtained Mine Opening Permission (MOP) and 15 coal blocks are under coal production," while "the remaining 109 allocated coal blocks are progressing within the scheduled development t...