NEW DELHI: The Coal Ministry has convened a meeting of the Ministers of 17 coal and lignite producing States on August 10 to discuss policy changes, including ushering in an era of competitive bidding in allocation of coal and lignite blocks for captive mining.
In a bid to introduce competitive bidding in the allocation of coal blocks to ensure greater transparency in their allocation, the Coal Ministry has convened a meeting of coal-rich states on August 10 to discuss with them the proposed legislative measures and recommendations of the parliamentary panel in this connection.
In a bid to check the hoarding of coal reserves by private power developers, the government has approved the cancellation of coal linkages of 25 captive power projects.
OPERATORS OF 25 CAPTIVE POWER PROJECTS THAT FAILED TO TAKE DELIVERY OF ASSURED COAL TO LOSE SUPPLY SURETY
Subhash Narayan & Rajeev Jayaswal NEW DELHI
METAL and infrastructure companies such as L&T, GMR Infrastructure and Hindalco will lose coal linkages for some of their captive power projects, with the coal ministry deciding to cancel linkages for 25 projects.
It was reported in November 2007, that the Ministry of Coal allotted M/s Adani Power Ltd. a block for open cast coal mining in Lohara, Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. The block is six kilometres from Chandrapur city and measures 1,750 ha. This vast area is a combination of 1,598.71 ha of Reserve Forest, 86.66 ha of government owned land and 64.63 ha of private land.
Green concerns: The Minister of Coal, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, and the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Mr Jairam Ramesh, at a press conference in the Capital, on Thursday. The Environment Ministry will speed up the approval process for development of new coal mines. - V.V. Krishnan
Mumbai: The coal production increased 7.8% to 492.95 million tonne (mt) in 2008-09 from 457.08 mt during 2007-08. Of the 36 mt surged in the pan-India production (including that of Meghalaya), Coal India Limited (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) contributed 24 mt and 4 mt, respectively, and captive blocks shared 8 mt.
