What were the mechanisms the Government could have used to introduce competitive bidding?

15. What were the mechanisms the Government could have used to introduce competitive
bidding?
As early as July 2006, the Department of Legal Affairs clearly stated that the government has
the option of introducing auction of coal blocks through an administrative order. However, the
UPA government decided to ignore this recommendation in favour of amending the Mines and
Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act 1957. This in turn took 4 years - the Amendment Act
was passed and notified in September 2010. The government took another 2 years (February
2012) to create rules under this amendment. The government did not introduce these rules until
the Supreme Court came out with its judgment on the 2G case. Was the government hoping to
avoid auction perhaps? Until now, the government has not auctioned any coal blocks.
The CAG report clearly states that "competitive bidding could have been introduced in
2006." Instead, between 2006 and 2009 the UPA government allotted 145 coal blocks to
whomever it liked.14