Mar 04:As per Coal Directory 2020-21, India is the second-largest coal producer and importer in the world.
The following steps have been taken by Government to boost coal production in the country:
(i) Commercial Auction of coal on revenue share mechanism: Auction of commercial mining on Revenue Sharing Mechanism was launched on 18.06.2020 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Under this scheme, a total of 2 tranches have been successfully completed and the third Tranche is currently under process. From these two tranches total of 28 coal mines have been successfully auctioned for which Vesting orders have been signed for 27 coal mines.
(ii) Allowed sale of excess coal production: The Ministry of Coal has amended Mineral Concession Rules, 1960 with a view to allowing the sale of coal or lignite, on payment of the additional amount, by the lessee of a captive mine up to 50 percent of the total coal or lignite produced in a financial year, after meeting the requirement of the end-use plant linked with the mine. The Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act had been amended in 2021. This is applicable for both the private and public sector captive mines. With this amendment, the Government has paved the way for releasing additional coal in the market by greater utilization of mining capacities of captive coal and lignite blocks, which were being only partly utilized owing to limited production of coal for meeting their captive needs.
(iii) Rolling auction: In order to expedite the process for conducting auctions and to carry out more rounds of auctions in a year, a mechanism of rolling auctions of coal mines has been planned. Under this mechanism, upon completion of the electronic auction process of a tranche, the next tranche of the auction would be launched for the following mines:
a. Mines where no bid or only a single bid was received in the previous tranche of auction (except for those mines where Ministry of Coal decides to go for a second attempt of auction
b. New mines, if any, identified by the Ministry of Coal
c. In the current III tranche of the commercial auction, a total of 48 coal mines have been rolled over from the II tranche of mines.
(iv) Single Window Clearance: The Union government has already launched the Single Window Clearance portal on 11.01.2021 for the coal sector to speed up the operationalization of coal mines. It is a unified platform that facilitates grants of clearances and approvals required for starting a coal mine in India. Now, the complete process shall be facilitated through the Single Window Clearance Portal, which will map not only the relevant application formats but also the process flow for grants of approval or clearances.
(v.) Coal India Ltd. has envisaged a coal production program of one Billion Tonne from CIL mines. CIL has taken the following steps to achieve the target of augmentation of coal production capacity:
- 15 Projects identified with a Capacity of about 160 MTPA (Million Tonnes per Annum) to be operated by Mine Developer cum Operator mode.
- Capacity addition through special dispensation in Environment Clearance under clause 7(ii) of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2006
- CIL has taken steps to upgrade the mechanized coal transportation and loading system under the ‘First Mile Connectivity’ projects.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines, and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
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