Timely Availability of Land and Clearances Crucial for Early Production of Coal-Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena

Secretary, Ministry of Coal Shri Amrit Lal Meena said that the Coal ministry will be initiating all possible steps to further fast pace domestic coal production and evacuation process. Addressing an interactive session with coal block allottees of captive and commercial coal blocks here today, Amrit Lal Meena said that timely availability of land and other clearances are of paramount importance in ensuring the early production of coal from newly allocated blocks. In his keynote address, the Secretary said that the Nominated Authority in the Ministry is in the process of developing a portal for timely monitoring and resolution of issues in this regard.

Coal Secretary underlined the need of increasing energy consumption to satisfy the requirements of our rapidly developing economy, as well as reduce reliance on coal imports. He added that the Ministry of Coal is aggressively promoting AtmaNirbhar Bharat, the vision of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Amrit Lal Meena pointed out that the coal industry seeks to promote a model of sustainable development in which coal mining co-exists with efforts to safeguard the environment, conserve resources, care for society and maintain our forests and wildlife.

Earlier, addressing the session Additional Secretary & Nominated Authority of the Ministry, Shri M Nagaraju highlighted the policy-level initiatives carried out by the Ministry to increase coal production and facilitate ease of doing business to make the coal sector more appealing. He also underlined the key reforms which have been introduced and implemented by the Ministry in various tranches of commercial coal mines auction in order to make the auction regime more appealing and rewarding. A presentation was given by Sh. Marapally Venkateshwarlu, Director, Ministry of Coal and detailed the coal blocks auctioned/allotted, Production Growth reforms taken, business opportunities etc.

Industry Leaders from NTPC Ltd, Vedanta Ltd, JSW Steel Limited, NMDC Ltd, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, SCCL, WBMDTCL, NLCIL and Odisha Coal & Power Limited were also present and addressed the forum. They shared their perspective on the future of coal in India and suggested various steps in the early operationalization of coal mines and enhancing domestic coal production.

Private sector participants appreciated the reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Coal in the auction of coal mines and thanked the Government for their timely, proactive support and facilitation to resolve issues with States for early operationalization of Coal mines. Participating in the session, senior functionaries of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)guided the allottees by clarifying different provisions of the Rules. SBI Capital Markets Limited is acting as the sole transaction advisor and a Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) formed by the Ministry of Coal, to help in the early operationalization of coal mines.

Till now, six tranches of commercial coal mines auction have been completed and a total of 87 coal mines have been successfully auctioned having cumulative PRC of 220.52 Million Tonne per Annum (MTPA)with annual revenue generation estimated at Rs. 33,231 crores considering production at aggregated Peak Rate Capacity. The Ministry of Coal has achieved 115.77 MT of coal production from the captive and commercial coal mines for the year 2022-23.

Disclaimer: This is an official press release by pib.