Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Cement and GMR Chhattisgarh Energy on Saturday won a coal block each in the first round of the government’s e-auction of mines.

The auction saw aggressive bidding by companies.

The government started e-auction of mines on Saturday, to boost supply of coal to select sectors to revive economic activity.

Reliance Cement will pay Rs. 1402 per ton coal extracted from the Sial Ghoghri mine to Madhya Pradesh.

The State could get about Rs. 785 crore revenue from the mine which has reserves of about 56 lakh tons.

The floor price for the block was Rs. 1002/ton.

“First mine auction shows that natural resources such as coal and iron ore can be auctioned in a transparent manner for the welfare of people,” Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said here.

Hindustan Zinc Ltd. and OCL Iron and Steel Ltd were the other bidders for the Sial Ghoghri mine.

Talabira-I in Odisha was the second mine auctioned. GMR Chhattisgarh Energy Ltd. bagged it at Rs. 478 per ton as against the floor price of Rs. 100 per ton.

GMR outbid other firms such as Adani Power Ltd., Essar Power M.P. Ltd., OPG Power Generation Pvt. Ltd. and Sesa Sterlite Ltd.