Comments
The Jharkhand Chief Minister, Mr Arjun Munda, today said that a review of Coal Bearing Act (CBA) would help address needs of the people and also increase the royalty of coal-rich States.
“If we want to take along the people as part of our inclusive growth, then CBA should be reviewed,” Mr Munda told reporters here.
“The review is necessary because several companies show their annual balance sheets in States where their headquarters is situated, and not in the State where they do mining,” he said.
Coal deposits
Jharkhand has maximum coal deposits but it doesn't get as much royalty, notwithstanding coal mining activity affecting livelihood of locals.
“As per the CBA rules, the Union government can acquire (coal-rich) land directly (for mining). Once acquired, the people suffer displacement while fertility of the top soil is destroyed,” Mr Munda said.
A review of CBA can address these problems, including problem of displacement of people in both scheduled and unscheduled areas, having roots for several generations, he added.
On August 19, the Union Minister of State for Coal, Mr Pratik Prakash Bapu Patil, told the Rajya Sabha that the Centre would revise coal royalty after examining recommendations of its study group, which had collected views of stakeholders concerned through questionnaires and meetings.
Jharkhand reportedly received Rs 3,495.97 crore as coal royalty from 2008-09 to 2010-11.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.