Feature
Jindal ‘puzzled’ as its bids for coal blocks rejected
New Delhi: Jindal Power expressed surprise on Saturday as the government decided against accepting its bids, along with that of Balco, for four coal blocks, while deciding to go ahead with five others put to scrutiny after two rounds of e-auctions for 33 mines.
The bids for five other blocks that were re-examined got a go ahead.
“Government takes decision on bids for nine coal blocks after examination. Bids for five blocks accepted,” Coal Secretary Anil Swarup tweeted. Bids for Gare Palma 4/1, 4/2, 4/3 and Tara coal blocks not accepted,” he said, referring to the four blocks.
Jindal Power had made the highest bid for Tara coal block that was on the table during the March auction, while Balco did so for Gare Palma 4/1 during February. Jindal Power was also the highest bidder for Gare Palma 4/2 and 4/3 blocks. All these blocks are in Chhattisgarh.
Five of the nine blocks that were examined belong to the Schedule III category that are near operational, while the four others are listed under Schedule II that were already operational, according to a coal ministry official.
Reacting to the decision, Jindal Power said it failed to understand the reason for rejection that “the highest bidder doesn’t reflect fair value” and further that it had followed a consistent and prudent bidding strategy throughout the auction process as a serious long term player.
“We are puzzled with the decision and would make our best efforts to engage in a dialogue with the coal ministry and government authorities to present the facts,” the company said in a statement.
The coal ministry official said they considered whether these bids were too low when compared with the winning bids for other similar blocks via an analytical tool called “outlier” that looked for unusual patterns that are far removed from the mass of data.
“Not making any allegation of cartelisation as of now,” Secretary Swarup had tweeted following the decision on examination, and told reporters later: “We are looking at whether the price that was quoted is good enough for the government or not, and whether we could get a better price”.
Listing the options before the government, should the bids be rejected, he said the government could re-auction the mines, allot them to the states or even hand them over to the state-run Coal India.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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