An inter-ministerial committee will meet on March 7 to deliberate on allocation of 17 coal blocks to public sector undertakings (PSUs). The blocks have estimated reserves of 8.45 billion tonnes.

The panel will deliberate on the feedback received from the State governments after scrutinising the applications from PSUs. The Coal Ministry has said that the inter-ministerial technical committee, under the chairmanship of Advisor (Technical), will meet to consider inputs received from the Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) and State governments and administrative Ministries concerned.

If PM Manmohan Singh’s efforts to perk up India’s slowing growth are not quite paying off, the case of a 1,900 MW power plant cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) on Wednesday —12 years after it received all approvals — may provide a part of the answer.

The foundation stone of NTPC’s proposed plant at Chatra in Jharkhand was laid by then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999. But a relentless turf war all but put paid to Rs 250 crore invested by NTPC since 2000.

Jammu and Kashmir is seeking allocation of a coal block from the Union Ministry of Coal under government dispensation route for setting up of a Pit-Head Thermal Power Plant of 1000 MW capacity to meet the energy needs of the state.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, on whose directions the State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC), has initiated action on the initiative, today received a detailed brief on the proposed project at the 68th meeting of the Board of Directors of the JKSPDC, which he chaired here.

The coal ministry has received around 316 applications, including 235 from power sector and 38 from mining companies, with regard to 17 coal blocks to be allotted to public sector firms.

‘‘We have received 316 applications with regard to 17 coal mines to be allocated to government companies/undertakings,’’ a government official said. ‘‘Of the total applications the coal ministry received, 235 are from power companies and 38 from mining firms. The remaining applications are either incomplete or have been withdrawn,’’ the official added.

The coal ministry, accepting the demands of the power ministry, has agreed to re-draft the Bill for a regulator for the coal sector by seeking to empower the watchdog to fix prices of coal and including a member from the power sector as a member in the regulatory mechanism.

The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2012 being re-drafted will now be equipped to fix prices of various grades of coal apart from determining the methodologies and policies for finalising prices of both raw and washed coal in line with their calorific values.

The coal ministry, accepting the demands of the power ministry, has agreed to re-draft the Bill for a regulator for the coal sector by seeking to empower the watchdog to fix prices of coal and including a member from the power sector as a member in the regulatory mechanism.

The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2012 being re-drafted will now be equipped to fix prices of various grades of coal apart from determining the methodologies and policies for finalising prices of both raw and washed coal in line with their calorific values.

Faced with stiff opposition from power utilities over the Centre’s move to introduce coal price pooling which could increase price of the fuel by R100 a tonne (5%) or more, the coal ministry may re

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday said it will constitute an inter-ministerial committee within a week that will help resolve various issues raised by private companies on coal allocation.

“There are a number of issues which need to be addressed. We have got feedback from the private sector with regards to linkages for the captive coal blocks or the ones which are facing environmental clearance issues,” coal secretary SK Srivastava told reporters.

The Union coal ministry has floated a Cabinet note seeking approval of the Cabinet Committee on Investment ( CCI) to free investments worth Rs 1,347 crore stuck in coal mines stuck due to lack of environment clearances.

The coal ministry and the Ministry of Environment and Forests ( MoEF) have jointly identified 12 projects ,which were stuck for want of green clearances and where approvals can be given quickly.

In an affidavit to the SC, coal ministry says state governments may own blocks but it has the final say

The coal ministry, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, has said that it has the sole legal right to allocate coal blocks even as the state governments own the blocks and eventually grant the mining leases. In response to the query of the apex court, which questioned the ministry’s authority in this regard, the coal ministry said that though there was no express statutory provision, a combined reading of the Coal Mines Act and a later amendment in the MMDR Act, introducing competitive bidding, gave it the final say in the matter of allocating all major minerals.