Coal still supplies the bulk of India's electricity, and commercial auctions are the mechanism by which the Centre has been widening production beyond the public sector since the sector was opened to unrestricted commercial mining. The revenue accrues to the state where the block sits, which is why the geography of these six blocks matters: Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana are among the states whose finances are most exposed to mining receipts. Two features of this round are worth noting for analysis. First, the inclusion of a second attempt of the 13th round shows that blocks routinely go unsold at first offering and are recycled into later rounds. Second, two of the six are only partially explored, meaning the successful bidder assumes exploration risk in exchange for a lower entry bid. Both facts complicate the simple narrative that auction rounds equal assured production, and both are useful qualifications in a Mains answer on India's coal sector.