New Delhi, Nov. 17 - The Coal Ministry has asked the allottees of 74 mines to provide information about their fields by November 25.

The required information includes details on environment clearance, production and land status.

These 74 mines are part of those 204 coal blocks whose allocation to various companies since 1993 was quashed by the Supreme Court on the ground that they were done in an illegal manner by an ad-hoc and casual approach without application of mind.

The government is now planning to allocate coal blocks through auction by February next.

The government had last week set up a high-level inter-ministerial committee to ensure the smooth allocation of 204 cancelled coal blocks. (ANI)