Rules for coal e-auctions being prepared carefully: Goyal

"The rules are under (the process of) framing and I would expect that by the end of this month, you will see significant traction in the whole process," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event organised by NTPC.

In the wake of Supreme Court cancelling 214 coal block allocations, the government last month came out with an ordinance to auction the coal mines through e-auction.

The Supreme Court in September cancelled the allotment of 214 coal mines to various companies since 1993 on the ground that they were done in an illegal manner by an "ad-hoc and casual" approach "without application of mind".

According to Goyal, the government has drawn up timelines having specific dates on which each item would be done. "You have seen that we have already notified the authorities under the Act, the commissioner for payments has already been notified," the Minister said.

A committee is also working on deciding the compensation for mining infrastructure and land.

"We are opening up so many of these mines for auction that we believe that most of the requirements of the existing plants will be fairly and adequately satisfied after the auctions," Goyal said.

Right now, the Minister said the focus is to ensure continuity in coal production and that there is no supply disruption.

When asked about possible bills that his ministries would be bringing during the Winter Session of Parliament, Goyal said that obviously coal ordinance would be presented.

Besides Power and Coal, Goyal is also the Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy.

Goyal said that a solution has to be found for the stranded gas-based power plants as part of efforts to ensure increased electricity generation.

"We have to find a solution for the stranded gas plants and we are finding solutions to all national assets in power sector to ensure that we can increase power generation as much as possible with indigenous fuel sources if at times we need to supplement it with imported fuel in the short term, we may even consider that," he said.

He was responding to a query on whether the government is looking at gas-pooling.

To ramp up power generation, Goyal said more and more electricity transmission lines are being approved. "I would appeal to the states that they support us with land acquisition and right of way so that transmission lines can be set up expeditiously," he noted.

On Thursday, Goyal had said the government hopes to attract USD 250 billion (Rs 15 lakh crore) investment within 4-5 years to give a boost to the energy sector.

When asked how such a huge investment is going to come, the Minister said the mood of international investors towards India had changed after the new government came to power.

"We see a lot of interest being demonstrated from across the world and we have seen that power plants are suddenly in demand whereas a few months ago nobody wanted to invest in this sector.

Now we have bidders who are trying to buyout assets in the power sector," he said. According to Goyal, investors have particularly shown interest in renewable energy space and power transmission area where there is huge potential.

Noting that confidence is being restored in the judicial system and taxation systems in the country, the Minister said, "I believe the setting is just right for more and more investments to come in, both domestically and from international investors".