Coal news and updates

Now, miners lobby in capital for relaxations in coal, mines bills

Miners, including some controversial players from Karnataka and Goa, have unleashed their might in the national capital and are operating through sympathizers in the political class as the select committees set up by Parliament sit down to work out a formula on the coal and mining bills that is acceptable to all parties.

Sources in the committees said the focus was largely on the amendments to the Mining and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Amendment Ordinance 2015 which has proposed auction of major minerals to bring about transparency. So far, mining rights were allocated in what was seen as a discretion-driven system.

"The mining industry has had it so good all these years that it is opposing auctions, apart from several other provisions," said a source. Sources on the committee said the government doesn't want to concede on auction as it has paid rich dividends in the coal auctions as it has helped do away with the taint associated with past allocations.

While the panel on MMDR Act amendment is headed by Bhupendra Yadav, the one of the coal bill is chaired by Anil Madhav Dave.

Miners realize that a lot is riding on the bills for them, as deletion of a clause here and an addition there will make a major difference. "Our challenge is to keep them (miners lobbying for relaxations) at bay but the task has been complicated by the inability of certain set of people to understand that the task is complicated. We are impressing upon the members of the committees about the importance of their role and what a seemingly innocuous change can entail," said a panel member.

Passage of mining and coal bills are part of the government's legislative reforms agenda for the session, which it wishes to accomplish. While the government had pressed for immediate passage of the bills, it had to bend to Congress's demand for referring the two legislations to the select committees for greater scrutiny. But it has managed to ensure that the timetable is not thrown off track by persuading parties to press that the panels complete their examination by March 18, which is two days before the scheduled break for recess. There is also the option of getting the break put off by a day but the government has not taken a call yet.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com