The Jharkhand Government has set up a committee to assess the state's claim of Rs 1.36 lakh crore coal dues and verify the outstanding in every head. The Jharkhand Finance Minister Radhakrishan Kishor announced that the JMM/ Congress led government has initiated legal action to recover its pending "Rs 1.36 lakh crore dues" from the Centre.

The Finance Minister made the announcement while replying to JD (U) MLA Saryu Roy’s question in the House.

The Committee will have representatives from both the Centre and the state to assess the exact outstanding amount.

A joint committee of the Centre and the state was formed on March 1 this year. The panel will assess the state's claim of Rs 1.36 lakh crore coal dues and verify the outstanding in every head. We will realise the amount as per the committee report.

During Question Hour, Excise Minister Yogendra Prasad also addressed the issue, stating that a joint committee has been established with members from both Centre and State while replying to a query in the assembly made by JD(U) legislator Saryu Roy.

Finance Minister Kishore, who also handles the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio, informed the House that he had met Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy around 10-15 days ago regarding the matter.

Reddy assured Chief Minister Hemant Soren that the central government would take necessary steps to ensure payment of the outstanding dues.

The Union coal minister directed that central government officials collaborate with the state government to verify the authenticity of these claims.

At the meeting Chief Minister Hemant Soren had said the central and state governments need to move forward together to better manage coal mining, production, transportation, land acquisition and compensation.

The CM also said the lands on which mining operations have been completed should be returned to the Jharkhand government.

There are many coal projects in the state, where mining work has been completed and the lands have been abandoned by the coal companies. Those are neither being transferred to the state government nor being used properly. Due to this, illegal mining is taking place in the closed mines.

In December 2024, the Jharkhand government formally began the process of legal action to recover the "Rs 1.36 lakh crore coal dues" from the Centre. A notification was issued authorising the secretary of the Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms Department to proceed with the legal measures.

The JMM/Congress has been demanding Centre to release State’s outstanding dues from Centre. Months before last year Assembly election, Hemant Soren wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the Central Government to release dues to the tune of ₹1,36,042 crores pending as of March 2022 payable to the State exchequer from the coal companies operating in Jharkhand. The letter was written on September 23 but released on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) through social media platform ‘X’.