A day after the Supreme Court de-allocated 214 out of the 218 coal blocks, the Coal Ministry remained tight lipped about its future course of action on the cancelled blocks, though there are indications that it could take up deliberations with concerned stakeholders to decide the future course of action, which is most likely to include the option of auctioning the cancelled reserves.
Interestingly though the usually vocal Coal Minister Piyush Goyal is yet to officially react to the decision even 24 hours after the apex court verdict. While he was unavailable on Wednesday even as reactions on the matter poured from all over and his cabinet colleague law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also aired his views, on Thursday too attempts to contact him proved futile.
Official sources indicated that the minister is apprised of the entire situation and there is a likelihood that a plan of action to deal with the subsequent fall out of the Supreme Court's decision is being prepared.
Corporate entities which have been directly affected by the SC verdict also chose to adopt a 'wait and watch' approach, though industry insiders indicated that legal options could be explored.
Sources privy to developments indicated that as six months time till March 31, 2015 has been given by the apex court to 42 operating blocks (including those about to start operations) to shut shop, the Government has time till then to decide how to deal with these blocks after that date.
Though State-owned Coal India ltd (CIl) will take charge of these cancelled blocks after March 31, 2015, ultimately the Government will have to reallocate them through a transparent route, sources indicated.
The ministry may choose to interact with stakeholders to decide the future course of action regarding the cancelled blocks and this will also include the option of auctioning them, they added.
While the Coal Ministry had finalised the guidelines for bidding the coal blocks meant for end-use purpose like cement and steel, the process of actually auctioning these reserves was put on hold after Goyal took charge, amid speculations that the minister was being cautious and needed greater clarity on the matter.
With the Supreme Court cancelling almost all the blocks, sources said that this has actually cleared the way for the Government to auction the reserves. However, again adopting a cautious approach, the Coal Ministry is likely to consult stakeholders to explore all options before actually going for the bidding route.
The companies which have been directly affected (with their blocks being cancelled), too, have chosen to keep quite for the time being.
When contacted, a representative of one of the affected entities said that it would be too early to say anything on the matter. However he indicated that taking recourse to legal opinion on challenging the verdict is an option open before them.