Ruling out any denationalisation of Maharatna public sector Coal India Ltd., Union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said that there was no move at all in this direction.
“I want to clarify this…the government is not moving towards denationalisation of CIL…there is no attempt at all,” he said adding that to the contrary “its role is now very important given the one billion tonne production target.”
“CIL will play a very important role in the 1.5 billion tonne coal production target set for 2020,” he said pointing out that the state miner would have to double its 500 million-odd production-level to touch 1 billion tonne by 2020.
Participating in an interactive session organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce here on Thursday, he said that the government was considering a proposal for allocation of mines to state governments for making the fuel available to the small-scale and the household sectors.
“In principle, we are moving towards that although it is difficult to give a time-frame,” the coal secretary said observing that the Act allowed this. A Mine Development Operators’ agreement had also been drafted to enable the state government undertake this activity, he said. It was now with the Union Law Ministry, he added.
Mr. Swarup indicated an open mindset on commercial coal mining, but struck a note of caution saying that there was need to be careful about it. In this context, he pointed to the first-ever workshop conducted by FICCI on Tuesday on this topic. “A paper has been prepared. We need to deliberate on this matter. There are so many issues involved,” he said.
To a query on tapping coal-bed methane gas, he said this was under the government’s active consideration. A cabinet note had been moved, he added. He declined to elaborate further. Mr. Swarup also indicated the government’s keenness to exploit this energy form, bringing in more players.
Responding to a remark made by a chamber functionary that new coal block allottees were unable to commence operation due to lack of licences, Mr. Swarup said that it was a matter of the state governments and that he was relentlessly pursuing the matter regarding not only approvals but also land acquisition with them. Five mines had already started operations. About 15 would start in a month. The 204 blocks on the auction list would yield 500 million tonnes by 2020, he said.
He also listed the initiatives being taken to evacuate the 1.5 billion tonnes of coal that would be produced. This was among the most critical issues, he added. By July 2018, three rail links to evacuate 200 million tonnes would be readied even as 60 projects were identified across the country to speed coal movement, he said.
