Coal ministry slaps notices on two more blocks in Odisha

Notice to JSPL's CTL block and Mandakini block

The Ministry of Coal (MoC) has issued showcause notices on two more coal blocks in Odisha over delay in their development, continuing its crackdown on non-serious allocatees.

The latest coal blocks to have got notices from the ministry include Mandakini block jointly allocated to Tata Power, Monnet Power and Jindal Photo Ltd and also Ramchandi promotional block, a coal-to-liquid (CTL) block alloted to Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL).

The notice to Ramchandi block comes close on the heels of MoC's showcause notice served to North of Arkhapal Srirampur block, also allocated for a CTL project planned by a consortium of Tata Group firms through a joint venture with South Africa's Sasol Ltd.

The ministry's notice on two CTL blocks has seemingly jeopardized the fate of the two projects, the only of their kind in the country, planned at an investment of over Rs one lakh crore.

The MoC notice to Ramchandi block is on the basis of recommendations of the inter-ministerial group (IMG). The IMG recommended issuing of showcause notice after noting unsatisfactory progress and delay in development of the coal block.

The ministry has given 20 days time to JSPL to respond to the showcause notice, and explaining the reasons for the delay, failing which it may face de-allocation order.

The MoC noticed that the developer of the coal block suffered from slippages on timelines on achieving key milestones like submission of mining plan, grant of forest clearance, land acquisition and grant of opening permission. The allocatee has also been asked to furnish a detailed status note on the end-use project for which the coal block was allocated.

The Ramchandi promotional coal block was allocated to JSPL in February 2009. The company had announced to invest Rs 60,000 crore on the CTL project to be set up at Durgapur in Angul district.
Apart from Ramchandi block, the MoC has also issued a showcause notice to Mandakini coal block.

The three developers-  Tata Power, Monnet Power and Jindal Photo Ltd have also been given 20 days to reply to the showcause notice.

Acting on the recommendations of the coal block, the ministry has issued notice to the block, pointing out inordinate delays in achieving major milestones like submission of bank guarantee, submission of mining plan, obtaining forest clearance, grant of mining lease and completion of land acquisition. The slippages range from four months to three years and five months.