Panel meet on coal supply to end-use plants next week

Meeting is scheduled to be held on June 11

An inter-ministerial panel to look into the issues pertaining to coal supply to end-use plants in the steel and cement sectors will now meet on June 11.

The Inter-Ministerial Committee, under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Coal) A K Dubey was constituted in March last year to consider issues related to fuel supply to end-use plants that are linked to coal blocks which could not be developed or were de-allocated.

"The meeting is now scheduled to be held on June 11," said an official communication to the ministries concerned -- Coal, Environment and Forest, Finance, Steel, Law & Justice.

The panel had recommended that the quantum of fuel to end-use plants, which were initially allocated coal blocks but either could not be developed or were deallocated, may be assured after taking the opinion of Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Central Electricity Authority (CEA), an official said.

CIL had stated that it had already made substantial commitment to the power sector and all its subsidiaries were running negative balance of fuel supplies.

Earlier during a meeting chaired by Dubey, the Steel Ministry had reiterated its earlier view that coal supplies to all the running plants should not be discontinued.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has also endorsed the views of Steel Ministry.