Coal news and updates

Govt asks Supreme Court to exempt 46 blocks

September 1: The government, on September 1, urged the Supreme Court to exempt 46 coal blocks from the purview of its ruling declaring all 218 blocks allocated since 1993 as “illegal”.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi proposed that about 46 of the 218 allocations declared illegal should not be taken back from the companies that operate them as they were either producing coal or were close to producing coal.  

For the remaining blocks, he said, the government is open to re-auctioning the coal blocks if their allocations are revoked.

This proposal of re-auctioning, however, is challenged by an association of coal producers which claimed that if the mining licenses are cancelled wholesale, the firms holding blocks will have to default on loans.

The apex court had ruled last week that the allocation of coal mining concessions for 218 blocks was illegal and arbitrary.

The court, on September 1, asked the government to submit a list of operational mines.