New Delhi | Oct 04, 2016: Government has allotted seven coal mines to state-government companies, including Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), for undertaking commercial mining and sale of the dry fuel.
"Allotment agreements have been executed (between Nominated Authority and coal block allottees) with regard to five coal mines, out of eight coal mines earmarked for allotment to state PSU's of coal-bearing host states for sale of coal," an official said.
Among the allotted blocks, Baitarni West coal mine in Odisha was given to Odisha Mining Corporation Ltd, Dahegaon/Makardhokra IV mine in Maharashtra was alloted to Maharashtra State Mining Corp Ltd, Maharashtra State Mining Corp Ltd and Gourangdih ABC block in West Bengal was alloted to West Bengal Mineral Development & Trading Corp Ltd, the official said.
Patal East in Jharkhand has been alloted to Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corp Ltd and Penagaddppa mine in Telangana alloted to Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.
"In addition, out of eight coal mines earmarked for allotment to PSU's of non-host States for sale of coal, allotment agreements have been executed for two coal mines," the official added.
The two mines are Madanpur South mine in Chhattisgarh to Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corp Ltd and Suliyari mine in Madhya Pradesh to Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corp Ltd, the official said.
The allotment of coal blocks is part of government's decision to open up the coal sector for commercial mining. The Centre had earmarked 16 blocks for allotment to state PSUs for carrying out production and sale of the dry fuel.
Of the 16 blocks, five mines are in Madhya Pradesh, three in Telangana, two blocks each in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, and one each in Odisha and West Bengal.
Of these blocks, eight have been identified for the host states, the remaining are for other than host state.
The decision to open up coal sector is in line with the government's target of doubling coal production to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020.
(Source: http://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/)
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