Ahead of the second meeting of a ministerial panel to give final shape to the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill on Tuesday, the coal ministry has proposed that coal producers can determine the price of the commodity. However, the proposed coal regulator should decide the methodology to fix prices to check abuse of monopoly by any coal producer, the ministry said.

The coal ministry has also rolled back a crucial proposal to give power of authorisation in grant of leases to the regulator.

Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) heaved a sigh of relief with the recent movement of coal from the mines of the Panem Coal Mines Limited in Pakur district of Jharkhand.

The 22-day-long agitation in one of Jharkhand’s largest mines run by Panem Coal Mines Ltd was called off on December 9 after the company headed by its chairman and managing director (CMD) Ujwal Upadhyay agreed to implement the provisions of the agreement it signed with the Rajmahal Pahari Bachao Anndolan Samiti in 2006.

The bench, however, refused to stay the licenses, which were allegedly granted in violation of law

The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre and the CBI on a plea for a probe by a special investigation team into the alleged irregularities in the coal block allocations. A bench of justices R M Lodha and A R Dave also sought response from them on a public interest litigation petition seeking cancellation of the licenses granted by the government for coal blocks to various private companies.

With the November 30 deadline set by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to wrap up fuel supply agreements (FSAs) drawing near, the Power Ministry has directed NTPC to sign the FSA with Coal India Limited (CIL) for supply of coal for its power plants.

The Power Minister, in a recent note to NTPC, asked it to sign the FSA with CIL at the earliest and not later than the November 30 deadline. The PMO had, last month, asked power companies, including NTPC, to sign fuel supply pacts by the month-end even if they don’t have binding pacts for sale of electricity.

Kolkata The inter-ministerial group on coal blocks will meet on November 5 and 6 to finalise the norms for allocation of 13 de-allocated coal blocks to private sector undertakings (PSUs), said coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal at the 38th Coal India (CIL) foundation day.

On further deallocation of coal blocks from the private sector, Jaiswal said the IMG has recommended deallocating of 13 more blocks and it has gone for the law ministry’s comments, which could come any time this week.

Ahead of its Odisha visit scheduled for November 2, a nine-member public accounts committee (PAC) of the Parliament has asked the state government to clarify the basis on which recommendations were made for award of coal blocks to companies.

The PAC is also keen to be informed on whether the state government vetted the balance sheets of coal block applicants. Besides, the committee has asked if there was any end-use plant and the progress achieved by the companies on such plants. The PAC is scheduled to hold talks with the chief secretary B K Patnaik and other top state officials on November 3. The Parliamentary panel is led by seasoned BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi.

New Delhi The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is set to file a new set of FIRs in coal scam, implicating three companies.

The agency is preparing to register three fresh cases in connection with its probe related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of captive coal blocks between 1993 and 2004. Around 43 coal blocks were allocated during this period. The probe also includes coal blocks allocated during NDA’s tenure at the Centre. In its report, the CAG said the government extended windfall gains of R1.86 lakh crore to private players by distributing coal blocks without bidding.