Twenty new Coal India projects await clearance

Twenty new Coal India projects costing Rs.20 crore or more continue to remain on paper due to lack of land and environmental clearances, the government informed parliament Thursday.

"A total of 20 coal projects, costing Rs.20 crore and above, could not be started due to constraints of land acquisition and environmental clearance in Coal India Limited/its subsidiary companies," Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

With a combined annual planned capacity of 54 million tonnes, six of these delayed mines with estimated annual output of 27 million tonnes could start this fiscal year, Goyal said. Most of the others are likely to begin operations next year.

While Coal India enjoys near-monopoly on production, the government has been taking steps in the recent past to expedite environment and land acquisition clearances,

The total estimated quantum of coal resources in the country is 301.56 billion tonnes, while the coal extracted during 2013-14 was 565.64 million tonnes.

Goyal informed parliament earlier this week that power producers have been advised to import 54 million tonnes of coal in the current fiscal to tide over domestic supply shortages