The Hindu Business Line : Govt drops move to privatise coal mining

The pending Bill at the Rajya Sabha recommending to further amend the Coal Mines Nationalisation Act will not be pursued, said Dr Dasari Narayan Rao, Union Minister of State for Coal & Mines.

Speaking to newspersons on Wednesday at the venue of the 7th International Mining & Machinery Exhibition (IMME 2004), Dr Rao said that at the most, the Government would offer virgin coal blocks on tender basis to private companies for developing the same only for captive consumption purposes.

Otherwise, production and distribution of domestic coal would remain under the domain of State-owned coal companies.

A high-powered committee was recently constituted by the Ministry assigned the task of finding out ways to bridge the gap between demand and supply of coal. The committee would submit its report within three months.

This apart, the Ministry is working out alternative sources to improve availability of coal so that core industries such as power, steel, fertiliser and cement don't suffer.

Dr Rao expressed concern over the delay in implementation of new coal mining projects following non-availability of necessary clearances from the Department of Environment and Forests as well as non-availability of coal-bearing land.

He stressed the need for a single-window clearance policy so that identified coal projects get all clearances from a single place within one a year.

The Ministry has recommended the setting up of separate State-level committees headed the Chief Secretary to look into problems faced by coal companies while taking up new projects. "Many new projects take took 7-10 years to get the necessary clearances."

Dr Rao was optimistic about the future of the ailing Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL). The company, with huge reserves of quality coal, has started showing signs of improvement. It is expected to start posting cash profit from the current fiscal.

The Minister also said that National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has applied to the Andhra Pradesh Government for a new bauxite mining lease near Visakhapatnam.