The Hindu Business Line : Panel meets today to allocate coal blocks

New Delhi, Sept. 12 The Screening Committee of the Coal Ministry will meet on Thursday to decide on the allocation of 38 coal blocks to various sectors.

“Of the 38 blocks, 15 would be allocated for the power sector, including public sector undertakings and private companies, while the rest would be allotted to users in other sectors,” an official in the Coal Ministry told Business Line.

The Committee is headed by Coal Secretary Mr H.C. Gupta and has representatives from the Power, Steel and Environment and Forests Ministries.

It also has representation from the State Governments of Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

The official added that though 38 blocks have been identified, the Committee may decide only on the allocation to the power sector.

In June, the Ministry approved allocation of 39 blocks to various sectors.

Of these, 10 blocks with reserves of 6,075 million tonnes (mt) were given to power companies, while 12 with reserves of 800 mt were allocated to public and private companies under the captive mining dispensation.

Besides, another 17 blocks with reserves of 190 mt were allocated to Central and State PSUs for commercial mining, taking the total number of blocks allocated to 163.

“It is estimated that the blocks that have been identified have reserves of around 3.5 billion tonnes, which could increase once companies start mining and are capable of generating 18,000 MW. This is why the Ministry is keen to first complete the allocation to the power sector,” the official said.

Last month, the Ministry had asked various State Governments to first do an exhaustive due diligence of the companies whose names were forwarded.

“This is important as the applications of the companies who are not serious would not be put before the Committee,” the official said.