Centre, states to review progress of UDAY

To assess roadmap for e-auction of major mineral blocks at Vadodra meeting on Oct 7-8

States, Union territories and the ministries of power, renewable energy, coal and mining will meet on October 7 and 8 at Vadodra to review the status of Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), said Piyush Goyal, Union minister of power, renewable energy, coal and mines.

The meeting will also take up renewable capacity addition, coal import substitution, states’ preparedness for e-auction of major mineral blocks, and establishment of district mineral fund and exploration policy.

According to sources, the curtailment issues faced by the solar sector will also come up for discussions as some discoms are resorting to power cuts or procuring power from exchanges and through e-auction platform.

States will deliberate Coal India’s move to supply blended fuel for import substitution at thermal plants. According to industry sources, it is will help companies in coastal areas save on foreign exchange, reduce coal imports, and reduce the cost of power generation.

Furthermore, the agenda note circulated by the Union ministry of mines said identification of major mineral blocks and their auction preparedness would be discussed. Besides, review will be held on the progress made by states in the establishment of district mineral fund (DMF), the status of collection of money accrued in DMF by the state government and its utilisation.

The Centre will also take stock of steps taken by states to curb illegal mining through mining surveillance system (MSS). The MSS has been developed for monitoring major mineral leases with the help of remote sensing to check illegal mining cases. The states are required to get the field verification done of the trigger generated by the MSS within the specified time period of 7 days through the district level officers.