Engineers India (EIL) plans to bid in order to acquire the government’s 100 per cent stake in Projects and Development India (PDIL).

The Union government has initiated auction of coal blocks by inviting applications for the first time, for allocating coal blocks through competitive bidding for specified end uses. The Ministry of Coal has offered three coal blocks for the auction. The Jhirki & Jhirki (West) of East Bokaro Coalfield, Jharkhand has approximate geological reserves of 267.91 mt (coking coal) for steel (blast furnace).

The Union Ministry of Coal recently reviewed the efforts being made to locate the documents mentioned in the lists dated September 2 and September 3, 2013, sent by CBI to the Ministry of Coal. The meeting was attended by senior officials of Ministries of Coal, Power, Steel, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and representatives from Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDI) and Coal India Limited (CIL).

Union Coal Minister, Sriprakash Jaiswal on August 20 said that the government will make every effort to locate and supply the additional documents required by CBI regarding allocation of coal blocks. Coal Ministry has already handed over 769 files and other documents consisting of more than 1,50,000 pages to CBI.

Lack of institutional capacity for developing coal blocks, limited availability of sound contract miners, and procedural challenges faced by the captive coal block owners are major issues haunting the coal mining in India. Dealing with these challenges is important for improving sector supplies, rather than privatisation, writes Dilip Kumar Jena.

The coal ministry is expected to table the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill in the Parliament in the ongoing Budget Session. If passed, it would mean a new era in transparency in captive coal block allocation.