Coal news and updates

Only 9 auctioned mines get opening permission so far

India Coal Market Watch

December 15: Only nine mines of the total around 60 auctioned in first three tranches since February 2015 have so far received mine opening permission for extraction of coal, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply in Parliament.

“Most of the mining leases of Schedule II coal mines have now been granted and executed and nine mines have received mine opening permission for extraction of coal,” Goyal said.

The minister acknowledged that there had been delays in getting statutory clearances for commencement of mining from such auctioned mines.

Commencement of mining operations in a coal mine auctioned and allotted under the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 need several clearances/approvals/ permissions which includes approval of the mining plan, approval of mine closure plan, forest clearance, grant of mining lease, consent to establish under the Environment Protection Act, license for use of explosives, opening of escrow account, ground water clearance etc, which are required to be obtained post auction/allotment from various departments/ministries/agencies viz MoEF&CC, DGMS, CCO and state governments etc, he said.

“The reason for non-commencement of production may be attributed to delay in obtaining some of the statutory approvals/clearances/permissions,” Goyal said.

Similarly, reasons for non-execution of the mining lease may be attributed to various factors such as issues relating to assessment of stamp duty, mutation of land, boundary demarcation etc, he said.

However, the Ministry of Coal is also in touch with various stakeholders such as Chief Secretaries of all the coal-bearing states, MoEF&CC, Controller of Explosives, Central Ground Water Authority etc for expediting issuance of various clearances, Goyal added.