Final decision on 9 coal blocks by Friday

The coal ministry will take a decision on whether there are any price discrepancies in case of the nine winning bids, including those made by Jindal Steel and Balco

jasleen

Jasleen Kaur | March 19, 2015 | New Delhi


#Coal   #coal secretary anil swarup   #coal mines bill   #coal block auction   #coal india   #jindal steel  

Nine successful bidders of captive coal blocks will have to wait to take control of the coal mines till the government takes a final call on the bidding price. The government is re-examining nine winning bids out of the 33 coal blocks auctioned so far.

The coal ministry will take a decision by Friday on whether there are any price discrepancies in case of the nine winning bids. These include those made by companies like Jindal Steel and Balco.

Talking to Governance Now, coal secretary Anil Swarup said, “There are nine cases where bids are being re-examined. No one has questioned the process as such. When bids came to us we found that there were certain 'outliers'. There were some bids outside the trend. And we want to understand the reason for that.”

He added that there could be a good reason behind it, but the ministry cannot accept it with closed eyes. “If something is evident on the face of it, that there is an outlier I should examine why it is so.” He further said that if there is a good ground behind the outlier then the ministry will accept the bid. And if it fails to find a good explanation behind it, it will not be accepted. The secretary said the ministry provided a transparent platform for coal blocks auction.

Thus the final decision on allocating mines to winning companies like Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Power, Jaypee Cements and Usha Martin would depend on the re-examination of their bids by the auction nominated authority. Five of these blocks belong to Schedule III (near operational) category, while four are under Schedule II (operational).

The passage of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2014 by April 5 would be imperative to commence the next round of coal blocks auction or else re-promulgation of the Ordinance which has already been promulgated twice on October 20 and December 24 last year.

The government can auction these blocks again, give them back to Coal India or give them to the states. The government is likely to announce its decision on these mines by Friday.

The coal secretary also said that the ministry is not looking at the possibility of cartelisation as of now.

Comments

 

Other News

Borrowing troubles: How small loans are quietly trapping youth

A silent crisis is playing out in the pocket of young India, not in stock markets or government treasuries, but in smartphones of college students and first-jobbers who clicked on the Apply Now button without reading the small print.  A decade ago, to take a loan, you had to do some paperwor

A 19th-century pilgrim’s progress

The Travels of a Sadhu in the Himalayas By Jaladhar Sen (Translated by Somdatta Mandal) Speaking Tiger Books, 259 pages, ₹499.00  

India faces critical shortage of skin donors amid rising burn cases

India reports nearly 70 lakh burn injury cases every year, resulting in approximately 1.4 lakh deaths annually. Experts estimate that up to 50% of these lives could be saved with adequate access to skin donations.   A significant concern is that around 70% of burn victims fall wi

Not just politics, let`s discuss policies too

Why public policy matters Most days, India`s loudest debates stop at the ballot box. We can name every major leader and recall every campaign slogan. Still, far fewer of us can explain why a widow`s pension is delayed or how a government school`s budget is actually approved. That

When algorithms decide and children die

The images have not left me, of dead and wounded children being carried in the arms of the medics and relatives to the ambulances and hospitals. On February 28, at the start of Operation Epic Fury, cruise missiles struck the Shajareh Tayyebeh school – officially named a girls’ school, in Minab,

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter