With delays plaguing 39 coal mining projects, the coal ministry has decided to approach the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) for clearing the hurdles.

The newly-formed CCI is expected to take up these projects in its next meeting likely within a fortnight. In a note to the CCI on December 27, the coal ministry said while delayed environment clearances may wreak havoc on its production plans, there are other bottlenecks which have hampered operations of its planned power projects entailing an investment of nearly Rs 14,000 crore.

TPS-II Expansion at Neyveli and coal-based power plant at Tuticorin expected to commence operations in 2013-14

Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) is planning to increase its power generation capacity to 4,240 MW with TPS-II Expansion (500MW) at Neyveli and a coal-based power plant of 1,000 MW at (NTPL), Tuticorin expected to commence operations in 2013-14. This would also help the state of Tamil Nadu to address its power shortage, which is currently around 4,000 Mega Watt (MW).

The newly-formed Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) is likely to approve automatic extension of environment clearances when it meets on Thursday, sources said. The move will not only do away with the tedious process of environment and forest clearance, but also free up over 65 million tonne (MT) additional coal annually, according to sources.

Last year, the environment ministry had made it mandatory for companies setting up projects to obtain forest clearance (FC) before applying for environment clearance (EC), where diversion of forest land is required. The guideline was later modified, allowing parallel processing for both EC and FC.

State controlled PSUs in Odisha will apply for four new coal blocks- Chandrabila, Tentuloi, Sarapal-Nuapada and Kudanali-Luburi notified by the Ministry of Coal (MoC) under ‘auction by competitive bidding' of coal mining’.

The state government has decided that Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) will apply for Kudanali-Luburi coal block, with reserve of 396.1 million tonne, for mining purpose only.

The Centre has decided to tell the Supreme Court that it is legally empowered to allocate coal blocks and is marshalling facts to make a strong case before it, a senior official said.

The proposed policy will ensure parity in the price of imported and locally-produced gas

The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will soon bring in a Uniform Gas Price Policy to ensure parity in the price of imported and locally-produced gas. "I have worked out the policy, but don't know whether it has to go to the Cabinet or not. The proposed policy will ensure one price for gas that is imported and that is produced here," Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas M Veerappa Moily said here this evening.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday made it clear that CBI cannot evade periodic scrutiny of its probe into Coalgate, querying the agency's reluctance to file a status report and voicing doubts about the legal sanctity of coal block allocations.

The court's remarks on the central bureau of investigation's ongoing probe into massive irregularities in coal block allocations highlighted by the federal auditor came in the wake of one of the petitioners, NGO Common Cause, questioning efficacy of the investigations.

The Supreme Court Thursday questioned the Centre's "authority" and the "very foundation" of its policy to allocate coal blocks, pointing out that its power to allot the mineral prima facie lacked legal sanction and was also "doubtful" in view of the current legal regime.

Putting the Centre in a tight spot for the second time in a week, a bench led by Justice R M Lodha underlined that the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act did not give any authorisation to the government to decide who should be allocated coal blocks in the states.

The Supreme Court today raised doubts over the Centre’s authority to allocate coal blocks, pointing out that coal was a state resource under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and as such only the states had the power to execute mining leases.

A Bench comprising Justices RM Lodha and J Chelameswar said that since both the MMDR Act and the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act 1973 had not vested any power with the Centre to allocate coal blocks, it could not have undertaken this exercise.