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| Parl Panel asks govt to allot 138 coal blocks to CIL |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Dec 20, 2009, 16:17 IST |
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A Parliamentary Panel has asked the government to allocate 138 coal blocks to state-run Coal India (CIL) to help it meet production targets for the current and the next plan period and bridge demand-supply gap.
"The Committee urged upon the (Coal) Ministry to consider the request of CIL for allotment of 138 coal blocks identified by it, other wise Coal India will not be able to achieve the coal production target envisaged in XIth and XIIth Five Year Plan," Standing Committee on Coal and Steel said in its report.
CIL has envisaged to achieve annual production target of 520 million tonnes by the end of the XIth Five-Year Plan Period (2007-12) and 664 million tonnes by the end of the XIIth Five-Year Plan Period (2012-2017).
In its attempt to meet the growing demand for dry fuel from sectors like power, steel and cement, the coal major has also been considering importing coal from its foreign ventures and other countries. The government has also been allotting blocks to end-user firms for captive use.
However, the parliamentary committee expressed dissatisfaction over CIL's efforts to identify and mine the blocks, which the government has been allotting to the end-user industries.
"The Committee do not approve such failure on the part of Coal India to identify such coal blocks since nationalisation of coal companies.
"...The committee are actually surprised to see that neither the CIL nor its subsidiaries could identify their coal blocks for mining operations which are now being identified by the ministry for allotment to private parties," the report said.
On the one hand, the report said, "CIL and its subsidiaries could not identify such blocks for coal production but are now running after foreign countries for importing coal."
CIL is estimated to posses about 180 coal blocks and meets over 80 per cent requirement of the end users through coal linkages.
Also, the Coal Ministry has so far allotted 208 coal blocks, for captive use to the end-users, with an estimated reserves of 48.8 billion tonnes.
However, only 25 such coal blocks have started production till date. The parliamentary panel has asked the government to take appropriate action including cancellation of the coal blocks against the "non-serious" companies sitting on the reserves.
"This clearly shows non-serious attitude on the part of such private parties to develop the coal blocks allotted to them within stipulated time.
"The Committee, therefore, recommend that the Ministry should take appropriate steps against such establishment who have failed to develop such coal blocks for mining operations and if necessary cancel their allotment."
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