The Indian government has received 69 requests for the allocation of coal blocks from state and central public sector units. A total of 36 coal blocks were offered and 35 received requests. They hold more than 10 Gt of coal reserves, enough to fuel at least 40 GW of capacity, and include NTPC's Chatti Bariatu and Chatti Bariatu South mines (597 Mt of coal reserves), Talaipalli with 965 Mt, Kerandari with 229 Mt and Dulanga with 260 Mt of coal. Seven companies have bid for the Gare Palma Sector II coal mine; the Gare Palma Sector III, Utkal D and Utkal E coal blocks received bids from six companies, while Parsa East and Kanta Basan got five applications.
In September 2014, the Supreme Court of India cancelled 214 of the 218 coal block licenses awarded over the 1993 - 2010 period and declared illegal in late August 2014. A total of 92 blocks have been put for sale, with 57 blocks reserved for the power sector (23 for allotment to states and 34 put for auction) and the rest to be auctioned to other sectors, such as steel or cement.