Coal news and updates

No contingency plan to deal with SC coal block order fallout: Coal min

The coal ministry has told the Prime Minister's Office that any contingency plan to deal with the fallout of the Supreme Court's order on captive coal blocks will be prepared by it once the apex court delivers its judgment on the matter.

The SC has declared the allocation of all coal blocks since 1993 as illegal but has reserved its judgment on their fate.

Coal secretary SK Srivastava has written to principal secretary Nripendra Misra on the latter's query as to what contingency plan has the ministry prepared for fuel supply to the concerned power projects.

“The coal ministry may kindly be permitted to work out a suitable contingency plan within the end of this month when the orders of the supreme court have been received,” the coal secretary has written to Misra.

Meanwhile, the power ministry has also proposed steps for the likely deallocated blocks in a draft Cabinet note on coal pooling. The ministry has laid out that if the coal blocks are finally deallocated and the end-use power plants are commissioned, the extant tapering linkages should be converted into long-term ones.

Officials in the power ministry told FE that the advisory group, chaired by former power minister Suresh Prabhu, has been meeting regularly to keep alternative plans ready to deal with any eventuality post the verdict but a final decision on any option has not been taken. The advisory group comprises experts like ex-Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha, former power secretary RV Shahi and former chairman of Coal India Partha Bhattacharya.

Source: The Financial Express