The Hindu Business Line : Govt committed to coal reforms, says Minister

New Delhi, June 17 The Centre is fully committed to coal sector reforms, including divesting stake in mining monopoly Coal India Ltd and allowing private participation in the sector, the Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, has said.

“The Government is making up its mind on disinvestment. Disinvestment in the coal sector has become a necessity. The Government may sell up to 10 per cent stake in Coal India,” Mr Jaiswal told newspersons, while announcing the 100-day agenda of his Ministry here today.

Timely development

On the issue of power and mining utilities delaying timely development of captive coal blocks, Mr Jaiswal said the Ministry will cancel the allotments if the companies failed to explore such assets despite all necessary approvals.

“We will first examine the reason behind such a delay. If after getting all the necessary approvals, the firm has not yet developed the blocks, their allotments will be cancelled,” Mr Jaiswal said.

Earlier this year, the Ministry had reviewed the progress of work on the captive coal blocks allotted to private and public sector companies between 2003 and 2007, and decided to serve de-allocation notices on 14 coal properties.

Among the firms issued show-cause notices were Tata Sponge, NCT Delhi, Monnet Ispat, Adhunik Group, the electricity boards of Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand, power corporations of Maharashtra and Haryana, and mineral development corporations of Chhattisgarh, Assam and Meghalaya.

The Coal Ministry has so far allotted 196 captive blocks with a cumulative reserve of 51 billion tonnes. The blocks are meant to cater exclusively to the requirements of the allottees.

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