Aimed at tightening the noose of firms sitting idle on the coal blocks allotted to them, the Centre has said panels at state-level would be formed by the year-end to ensure speedy development of captive blocks.
“(The Ministry will)...pursue states to constitute a state-level committee under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary of the State concerned to review the progress of allocated coal/lignite blocks in the states,” the Coal Ministry said on its website.
The Ministry also said the committees, to be constituted by October 31, will hold one meeting in its first year by March next year. But in the following years, two meetings would be held by the state panel to assess the development of blocks.
The Coal Ministry will rush letters to the Chief Secretaries of the States by the end of next month, asking them to constitute panels, it said.
The Government has already formed a review committee under the chairmanship of the Additional Secretary of Ministry of Coal to review the progress of development of coal/lignite blocks and the associated end-use plants.
The review committee will hold meeting twice a year to take stock of the development of these blocks.
To weed out non-serious players, the Government had last year issued notices to 82 firms and sought their responses as to why coal blocks allocated to them should not be withdrawn, as they had failed to develop them within the allotted timeframe.
Earlier, the Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, had said a decision on blocks lying idle with the firms was most likely by month-end.
The firms had given different reasons, including land acquisition problem, for their inability to develop these blocks. The companies which were issued showcause notices included Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, JSW Steel and GMR Energy.
The Government had earlier deallocated 11 coal blocks.