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Coal block allocations breached 1992 guidelines: Govt

Yet to solve the mystery behind missing files on coal block allocations to big industrial houses, the coal ministry on Monday courted fresh trouble as it admitted before the Supreme Court that five coalfields were allotted to private parties during 1993-2005 in breach of 1992 guidelines.

The fresh affidavit filed by the ministry in response to the apex court's queries on September 18 said, "Out of 47 blocks allocated to private parties from 1993 till 2005, five blocks were located in an area where there was a subsisting mining lease or were subject matter of Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957 notification in favour of Coal India Ltd subsidiaries."

 This admission confirmed the fear of the bench of Justices R M Lodha, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph that the documents perused by it on September 18 contradicted the Centre's consistent stand that no coalfield area associated with public sector undertaking CIL was allocated to private parties.

The ministry extracted the CIL board's guidelines laid down in August 1992, which clearly prohibited allocation of any coal bearing area already with CIL to private parties. The guidelines were:

* Blocks already identified and allotted should be a virgin block without basic facilities like road, rail and power links. Wherever CIL has already invested in the creation of infrastructure, the new mine should be operated by CIL

* The blocks offered should be away from existing mines and operating coalfields of CIL

* Blocks already decided for development by CIL should not be offered for private mining

* Consumers or private sector should bear the full cost of exploration incurred by CIL

It was this guidelines which probably made the bench ask attorney general G E Vahanvati on August 18, "It appears (from the documents) that these coal blocks are part of the identified coalfields already with CIL or its subsidiaries. What you argued for one-and-a-half days is contradicted. If it is already with CIL, then at best a sub-lease could have been given to the private players, not wholesale allocation."

The AG said none of the petitioners - advocate M L Sharma and NGO 'Common Cause' - had made it an issue in their petitions. He had promised to check the issues raised by the court with the ministry, CIL and Central Mine Planning and Designing Institute Ltd (CMPDIL).

The court had also asked how the task of identification of coal blocks for private players was shifted from CMPDIL to CIL. The ministry in its affidavit said, "After July 13, 1993, when 40 blocks were agreed to be offered for captive mining, 20 blocks were identified in the years 1995 and 1996. There was a subsequent exercise carried out by apex committee in December 1996 when 71 additional blocks were identified. CMPDIL was involved in the identification process."

The ministry added, "It is clear that basic identification exercise was conducted by CMPDIL but final decision allowing such blocks to be given for captive mining had to be that of CIL since basically the interests of CIL had to be taken into consideration. At every stage, the CIL board has laid down the factors required to be taken into consideration in relation to such blocks, keeping in mind the paramount interest of CIL."

Source: The Times of India