M Nagaraju, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal, on Thursday said that the government has appointed a consultant to help coal block allottees obtain requisite permissions, approvals and navigate the process to ensure faster operationalisation of the mines.

The government had recently opened up the coal sector to commercial mining. It had offered as many as 38 coal mines for commercial mining auction. However, it received interest only for around 19 mines where some of the highest bids were received from companies such as Aditya Birla Group, Adani Group, Vedanta, and JSPL.

“We have engaged a consultant to help coal allottee to obtain permissions, approvals and navigate the process. A number of clearances including forest, land and environment requires an expertise,” Nagaraju said while delivering his keynote address at the 14th Indian Coal Markets Conference organised by mjunction on Thursday.

The government has also asked the respective State governments to help allottees so that the coal blocks auctioned can be made operational.

Also read: Commercial mining won’t unsettle us: Coal India chief

“The coal allottees, Central and state government should come together in a haromonius way to operationalise coal blocks auctioned at the earliest,” he said.

Coming down heavily on allottees who have not taken “much interest” in getting the mines operationalised, he said, the government was taking necessary action against those who have not come forward and taken measures to operationalise the mines.

“How to bring more coal blocks into production and operationalise coal blocks allocated faster are some of the key challenges facing the coal industry,” he said.

Also read: Coal output, offtake rise on gradual recovery in demand

Getting the coal mines operational would be crucial to bring down the country’s coal imports, which stood at around 247 million tonnes in 2019-20.

“While some imports may still be necessary, but there is no justification for import of thermal coal where we have enough resources,” he pointed out.

Energy security

Highlighting the role of coal in energy security, he said, coal would continue to remain the “king” of energy mix for the next 30-40 years.

The demand for coal is also likely to increase moving forward with the rise in per capita consumption of electricity in the country.

Talking about the need to make domestic coal competitive to imported coal, he said, while the cost of digging and excavation is still low, the cost of evacuation pushes the overall cost of coal when it reaches the end consumer. Evacuation should be faster and more efficient.

“We need to take a relook at the taxation policy on coal as it may have an impact on reducing imports,” he said.

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