Section 3. Amendment of section 34

3. Amendment of section 34.— In section 34 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), after clause (a), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:— "(aa) the coal mines or coal bearing areas and their location, the minimum size of the coal mine or coal bearing areas, and such other conditions which may be necessary for the purpose of coal mining operations including mining for sale by a company under sub-section (2) of section 3A.". PART B THE MINESAND MINERALS (DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION) ACT, 1957 (67 OF 1957) 1.Substitution of new section for section 11A. —In the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (herein referred to as the principal Act), for section 11A, the following section shall be substituted, namely:— '11A. Granting of reconnaissance permit, prospecting lincence or mining lease .—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Central Government may, for the purpose of granting reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or mining lease in respect of any area containing coal or lignite, select any of the following companies through auction by competitive bidding, on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed, namely:— (a) a Government company or corporation or a joint venture company formed by such company or corporation or between the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, or any other company incorporated in India; or - (b) a company or a joint venture company formed by two or more companies, that carry on coal mining operations in India, in any form either for own consumption, sale or for any other purpose in accordance with the permit, prospecting licence or mining lease, as the case may be. (2) The Central Government may, with a view to rationalise coal and lignite mines referred to in subsection (1), so as to ensure the coordinated and scientific development and utilisation of resources consistent with the growing requirements of the country, from time to time, prescribe— - (i) the details of mines and their location; - (ii) the minimum size of such mines; - (iii) such other conditions, which in the opinion of that Government may be necessary for the purpose of mining operations or mining for sale by a company. (3) The State Government shall grant such reconnaissance permit, prospecting licence or mining lease in respect of any area containing coal or lignite to such company as selected through auction by competitive bidding or otherwise under this section: Provided that the auction by competitive bidding under this section shall not be applicable to an area containing coal or lignite— (a) where such area is considered for allocation to a Government company or corporation or a joint venture company formed by such company or corporation or between the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be; (b) where such area is considered for allocation to a company or corporation or that has been awarded a power project on the basis of competitive bids for tariff (including Ultra Mega Power Projects). Explanation .—For the purposes of this section, "company" means a company as defined in clause (20) of section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013).'. (q) "Schedule II coal mines" means the forty-two Schedule I coal mines listed in Schedule II which are the coal mines in relation to which the order of the Supreme Court dated 24th day of September, 2014 was made; (r) "Schedule III coal mines" means the thirty-two Schedule I coal mines listed in Schedule III or any other Schedule I coal mine as may be notified under sub-section (2) of section 7; (s) "secured creditor" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (zd) of section 2 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of 2002); (t) "secured debt" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (ze) of section 2 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of 2002); (u) "security interest" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in clause (zf) of section 2 of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of 2002); (v) "specified end-use" means any of the following end-uses and the expression "specified enduser" shall with its grammatical variations be construed accordingly,— - (i) production of iron and steel; (ii) generation of power including the generation of power for captive use; (iii) washing of coal obtained from a mine; - (iv) cement; (v) such other end-use as the Central Government may, by notification, specify; (w) "vesting order" means the vesting order issued under section 8. (2) Words and expressions used herein and not defined, but defined in the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 (20 of 1957), the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (67 of 1957), and the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 (26 of 1973), including any rules or regulations made thereunder, shall have the meanings, respectively assigned to them in those Acts.