Coal news and updates

States not liable to pay SC levy on coal from cancelled blocks: Swarup

Much to the relief of states like West Bengal, Karnataka and Punjab, coal secretary Anil Swarup on Wednesday said that the states were not liable to pay the Supreme Court-imposed levy for coal extracted from cancelled captive mines as states only held a minority stake of 26% in the joint ventures with the mining development operator Eastern Minerals and Trading Agency (EMTA).

The clarification makes West Bengal eligible for the allocation of blocks despite not paying the fine even though Punjab and Karnataka have deposited their share of levy. This also puts EMTA in the dock with a liability of depositing R3,550-crore levy, which it has refused to pay so far, as the majority stakeholder with 76% stake.

“We will return the levy deposited by Punjab and Karnataka as the payments were made as a measure of abundant caution. We are very clear that states are not the legal entities that need to pay the levy,” Swarup said.

As FE had reported earlier, the Centre has so far garnered only R6,100-crore penalty from previous mine owners against an estimated R10,494 crore.

Source: The Financial Express