Coal news and updates

53 CIL projects delayed due to land issues: Goyal

April 27: Altogether 53 projects of different subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd (CIL) are delayed due to land acquisition issues, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on April 27.

“A large number of projects are facing challenges due to delay in land acquisition as well as forestry clearances. As on date, total of 53 projects of different subsidiaries of Coal India Limited are delayed due to land acquisition issues,” Goyal said in Parliament.

He said that the major impediments to land acquisition are delay in notification of land, delay in authentication of land records/determination of record of rights, delay in handing over of land, reluctance on the part of land oustees to handing over land even after receiving compensation, non-availability of the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) site to be provided by state government and exorbitant demand of compensation from Project Affected Persons (PAPs) beyond company norms.

Further, constraints faced in obtaining forest clearances are due to delay in registration of applications, delay in obtaining NoC from the Collector for diversion of revenue forest land for non-forestry purposes, difference in land records maintained by the Revenue Department and the Forest Department, delay in issue of NoC under Forest Rights Act(FRA) etc, the minister said.

Further, the miner is facing evacuation constraints due to inadequate rail links. “CIL is facing coal evacuation problems in three of its subsidiaries namely, CCL, MCL & SECL,” he added.