Everyone knows that mining coal is a messy business, but Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal says it is also India's "most notorious" sector and vowed to eliminate mafia, pilferage and theft.
"I can't say... When I will be able to bring normalcy in the sector" he said pointing out that the sector has been besieged by the evil of crime and mafia for over three decades.
The minister was talking to PTI on completion of one year in office of UPA-II.
"I will take time to cleanse the system... I don't know how much time it will take... I will do everything to weed the evil out," he said when asked about the impediments created due to a nexus between mafia, officials and politicians.
He said that it is unfortunate that the coal belt in the country was under twin attack -- Naxalism and Mafia.
"Naxal problem is not in my domain, but I have already started focusing on the other problems," he said.
Majority of the coal producing belt in the country is dominated by mafia operations, trade unions active in the coal sector said.
"At least 10,000 mafia groups operate in the country mostly concentrating in Coal India Ltd collieries and the annual plunder is not less than 5-6 million tonnes causing huge loss to the state exchequer," former MP and trade union leader Jibon Roy said.
India is home to cumulative coal reserves of 267 billion tonnes, the largest in the world, and the fossil fuel accounts for 55 per cent of the country's energy needs.
Roy who had been a member of the Standing Committee on Coal and, at present, is the CITU General Secretary alleged the nexus included that of executive from the coal companies, bureaucrats, police and criminals.
Mafia operations are more rampant in CIL subsidiaries like Central Coalfields Ltd, Bharat Coking Coal Ltd, Eastern Coalfields Ltd and SCEL, he said pointing out that the coal mafia virtually ran a parallel administration there.
State-owned CIL, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production through its seven subsidiaries, marginally missed its output target of 435 million tonnes in 2009-10.
Meanwhile the issue of coal pilferage is also being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and other agencies.
The CBI has conducted a nationwide special drive against large-scale pilferage and irregularities in public sector coal companies from January 18 to January 25 and unearthed misappropriation and loss to the tune of over Rs 10 crore to various public sector coal companies.
Besides cleansing the mafia, Jaiswal said his ministry's priority will be to bring out more reforms in the sector.
"Apart from Coal India's proposed disinvestment, we are going to shortly appoint a Coal Regulator to monitor various issues including pricing of coal. Also, we are working to introduce competitive bidding for allocation of coal blocks for captive use," Jaiswal said.
The government is in the process of divesting 10 per cent stake in 'Navratna' CIL in the current fiscal, expecting to raise up to Rs 12,000 crore.
