The coal ministry on Tuesday approved the deallocation of captive blocks held by SKS Ispat and Bhushan Steel, based on the recommendations of an inter-ministerial group (IMG) reviewing progress on the blocks. At a meeting on Tuesday, the panel also recommended deallocating a block being developed by Bihar Sponge.

SKS Ispat’s Rawanwara North block and Bhushan Steel’s New Patrapara block, deallocated on Tuesday by Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, together hold reserves of 1,216 mt. SKS Ispat was recently in news after its name figured in the alleged allocation scam. Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay’s brother Sudhir Kant Sahay is an executive director in the company.