Greenpeace claims CIL comes clean on extractable reserves

NGO complained to Sebi alleging CIL hid fact that its extractable reserves have declined 16%

Global environmental Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Greenpeace today said its recent complaint to India’s market regulator against Coal India Ltd (CIL) forced the world’s largest coal miner to “come clean” on its extractable reserves.

The NGO’s claim came in response to a 10 October presentation uploaded by CIL on its website stating the miner holds the rights to 18.2 billion tonne (BT) coal reserves in addition to 62.7 BT of resources.

“In its latest presentation for investors, CIL has for the first time publicly acknowledged its extractable reserves are 18.2 BT, as against its earlier claim of 21.7 BT,” Greenpeace said in a release.

The NGO had on 23 September filed a complaint with The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) alleging CIL had withheld from investors the fact that its extractable reserves have declined 16% as a result of a switch-over to the globally-accepted United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) for minerals. Coal India had trashed the allegation arguing the NGO’s action is part of a “sinister design aimed at boosting coal imports”.

Interestingly, Greenpeace’ claim that CIL has publicly acknowledged the reduced estimate of reserves “for the first time” comes even as the miner had put up the reduced figure on the website of its subsidiary Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI) last year (2012) itself. “The company hid the true reserve estimate from investors by not putting up the figure on its main website,” Greenpeace Campaigner Arundhati Muthu told Business Standard.

The reduced estimate of reserves assumes significance as, according to Greenpeace, it implies CIL’s reserves could be exhausted within 17 years. The miner alone accounts for 82% of India 557 MT annual coal production, meeting over a half of India’s primary commercial energy requirement.