Guidelines issued for disposal of cancelled mines' stock

The ministry of coal has issued guidelines for disposal of the stock of Schedule-II coal mines which were operational when cancelled by the 2013 Supreme Court order. If the prior allottee fails to remove the stock within seven days from this Wednesday, the successful allottee can dispose of the stock. The proceeds would be divided between the new owner and the government.

Only the cost incurred by the successful bidder or allottee for the removal, storage and sale of the stock would be paid to them. The rest would go to the 'nominated authority'. The 18 operational blocks in the first phase of auction have total extractable coal reserves of 90 million tonnes and have end-use infrastructure attached.