Durgapur Steel Plant, a SAIL unit, has bagged Greentech Safety Award 2012 in ‘Gold’ category within metals and mining sector, a DSP communiqué said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based non-government body, has issued a report on major failures of governance and regulation in the Indian mining sector. Explaining how regulatory lapses led to criminality, it has said former Karnataka minister and mining magnate Janardhana Reddy allegedly used his official position to extort huge quantities of iron ore from other operators, using government regulators as part of his scheme.

HRW has said Reddy may have run an extortion racket in the state, along with his brothers Karunakara and Somashekara Reddy, usurping mineral production of other miners in return for providing protection from government regulation.

After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last week directed heads of key infrastructure ministries to meet newly assigned higher performance targets for the current financial year, the coal ministry has announced it would review production by coal companies on a monthly basis. Production is currently monitored once in every two months. The PM’s infrastructure push is aimed at reviving investor sentiment in the Indian economy.

Coal India has introduced a one-time offer that allows power utilities to lift the fuel directly from mines.

The scheme is available for independent power producers drawing coal under fuel supply agreements (FSAs) as well. “A one-time offer is being made to all power utilities drawing coal under the FSA during 2012-13 to lift the coal, which is held in the stocks on ‘as is where is' basis with the stipulation that the power stations will make their own evacuation arrangement,” CIL has said in a notice. This is the first time Coal India has initiated such a move.

New Delhi The central government may consider tweaking the proposed Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill, 2011, to retain its control in allocation of mineral concessions.

The existing MMDR Act, 1957, makes the Centre’s approval a must for grant of mineral concessions for most of the minerals, including iron ore, manganese and chrome. However, the MMDR Bill proposes to devolve full powers of extension, grant of mineral concession to the state governments. The states would not require any prior approval from the central government to grant a mining lease to be allocated mainly through the competitive bidding route.

We have assigned a neutral rating to Sesa Goa with a target price of R210. We value Sesa Goa’s core business on a sum-of-the-parts (SoTP) basis with iron ore operations on a DCF-to-firm basis (5% debt-to-equity, 15% weighted average cost of capital).

We value Sesa Goa as a merged entity (Sesa Sterlite) and believe the merger with Sterlite Industries has a high likelihood of being successful. Recently, the Competition Commission of India approved the merger and the next leg of approvals rest with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.

KOLKATA, 12 JUNE: The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) is planning to auction around 100 acres of its land in and around Kolkata and is awaiting a nod from the Centre.

June 11: Large parts of the state reeled under prolonged power cuts today after six units of DVC-operated thermal power plants at Bokaro and Chandrapura tripped as a result of technical snags.

The MoU between Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation and Rakshana Steels, which the state has decided to cancel, had an inbuilt clause that automatically made the agreement null and void in the absence of any mining rights to the state agency. As per rules, mines in tribal zones are declared as “reserve areas” and the Centre has to accord permission before mining can be taken up in those areas.

PANJIM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will meet senior officials of State Mines department on June 15, to review the announcements made in the state budget about the department and also on the roadmap for the crucial mining policy.

Parrikar, who also holds mining portfolio, had announced a slew of measures to control illegal mining and also compensate losses incurred by common man and farmers as a fallout of rampant mining activity.