Liberalizing the bidding norms for coal blocks, the Centre had announced an auction of 41 blocks in June, allowing commercial mining for the first time by the private sector
New Delhi, August 27: According to senior government officials, the central government is considering a proposal to acquire land under the Coal Bearing Areas (CBA) Act, 1957 and then lease it to private players to expedite the development of coal blocks allocated for commercial mining. The CBA Act for acquisition of land is currently used by state-owned coal mining companies, such as Coal India Ltd (CIL).
The Centre had, in June, liberalized the bidding norms for coal blocks, announcing an auction of 41 blocks allowing for commercial mining for the first time by the private sector.
Speaking at a webinar on the financing perspective of auction of coal mines for commercial mining organized by FICCI, M Nagaraju, Joint Secretary, coal ministry, said: “(The Coal Ministry is considering) allowing the acquisition of land under the CBA Act and then give it on lease to private sector coal miners.”
Anil Kumar Jain, Coal Secretary, said his ministry was in discussions with the Environment Ministry to expedite clearances for successful bidders for coal blocks, saying, “We are hopeful that in the next 6-12 months you might hear that the time taken to get forest may also get reduced.”
