Coal news and updates

Cement body seeks conversion of tapering linkages

September 30: In view of the Supreme Court’s recent verdict, the Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has requested the coal ministry to convert all tapering linkages, which do not hold any significance now, into long-term ones.

“It is…requested that tapering linkage be converted into long-term linkages where the coal blocks have been de-allocated as non-conversion may lead to closure of the end-user plants,” N A Viswanathan, Secretary General, CMA, said in a letter to Coal Secretary S K Srivastava.

It further said, “Since it is accepted that the allocations of coal blocks were illegal, any policy framed should also be scrapped ab-initio. It is, therefore, requested that the tapering coal linkage policy of 2010 be scrapped from the date of inception and the coal linkages be brought to normalcy and the difference between the normal and tapered quantity be released to the parties at the earliest.”