State government has demanded allotment of one coal block out of Tara/Durgapur-II/Sariya/Morga-I coal blocks to CMDC for commercial mining.

CMDC has invested Rs 625 crore on development of five allotted coal blocks including Tara, Gorepelma Sector-1. All kinds of legal permissions have also been taken by CMDC for these coal blocks, said a DPR press release.

Now, Central Government has marked Tara, Gorepelama Sector-1 and Madanpur North Coal Blocks for allotment to power sector and other states (non host). This is the reason why CMDC cannot apply for these coal blocks. The coal blocks which have been marked by Centre for          commercial mining in Chhattisgarh are not commercially feasible, the release said.

Presently, power plants, sponge iron and other micro, small and medium industries established in the state do not have sufficient coal supply, because of which these plants and industries are on the verge of closure, and this may lead to the problem of                    unemployment, it said.

If any one of the aforementioned coal blocks is allotted to CMDC for commercial      mining, these plants and industries of the state will get sufficient coal supply to     function, the release added.

Development of the coal blocks which have been    selected by Centre of commercial mining (sale of coal) will take at least 5-7 years.

It is noteworthy, that before Supreme Court's order dated August 25, 2014 and September 24, 2014, CMDC was allotted five coal blocks between 2003 to 2007 namely Tara, Gorepelama sector-1, Shankarpur (Bhatgaon), Sondhiya in Chhattisgarh state, Chendipada and Chendipada-2 (jointly allotted to Uttar Pradesh State Power Production Corporation Limited) in Odisha state, which contained total geological reserve of 3708 million ton, minable reserve of 2967 million ton, annual capacity of 64 million ton (Tara-6, Gorepelama-15, Chendipada-40, Shankarpur (Bhatgaon-2 and Sondhiya-1).

Before the orders were issued by Supreme Court, the CMDC had already invested Rs 625 crore on development of these coal blocks, out of which CMDC has received only Rs 64 crore from new allottees. CMDC had invested the    highest amount of Rs 323 crore on Tara coal block. In addition, CMDC had taken all the legal permits for this block including forest and environment clearance, and had also completed the land acquisition process.

After the order of Supreme Court came out, CMDC demanded allotment of Tara and Gorepelama Sector 1 coal block from Central Government, but Centre cited Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and said that CMDC can apply for coal block allotment, when applications for the same is invited.

The coal blocks, which were selected for commercial mining in Chhattisgarh state, were not commercially feasible, which is why CMDC did not apply for their allotment.

Central Government's anti-Chhattisgarh decision had withheld Rs 561 crore of CMDC, because of which CMDC is also incurring loss due to imposition of interest of Rs 56.10 crore per year (Total loss incurred in five years is Rs 342 crore), the DPR release claimed.