After having requested the Supreme Court to spare 46 coal blocks which have come under production from de-allocation, the Government has asked State-owned allottees of such reserves like SAIl, NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) among others, to immediately furnish details about the exact procedure adopted by them to mine these blocks.
In a missive to owners of 20 such blocks which have come under production (as on August 31, 2014) and had been allotted to Government entities, the Coal Ministry has asked them to immediately submit details regarding any joint ventures formed to mine these blocks. The details sought from the State-owned entities are to be submitted to the Supreme Court.
The blocks in question were mainly given for captive use purpose to the public sector undertakings (PSUs).
The Coal Ministry mainly wants to find out whether the companies owning these 20 blocks formed any joint venture (JV) to mine these reserves. If indeed they formed a JV then what was the process of its formation. Also how many firms participated if any bids were invited for selection of the JV partner, the ministry wants to know from the block owners.
“What was the process of JV formationIJ Was it based on competitive biddingIJ How many firms/companies participated in bid invited if the selection of JV partner was made on the basis of competitive biddingIJ Percentage ownership of the JV company by allocatee and JV partners,” a letter by the Coal Ministry to block owners says.
The details have been sought from Government allocatees of coal blocks given away between 1995 and 2007 which include those which are operational as well as those which are likely to commence operations in the current fiscal.
The Government has sought affidavit from allotees of 61 coal and lignite mines like JSPl and Hindalco about the status of mines.The letter (dated September 3, 204) has been sent to SAIl, NTPC and DVC apart from PSUs which come under various State Governments.
The ministry has also sought to know from these entities that in case a mine developer and operator (MDO) has been appointed for mining of coal, then what was the rate allowed to the MDO and also the margin of profit allotted for it.
The operational blocks whose details have been sought include Tasra, alloted to SAIl, Tara East alloted West Bengal State Electricity Board and Tara West, Barjore, Gangaramchak and Gangaramchak Bhadulia and Panchwara North given to West Bengal Power Development Corporation and Barjora North to DVC.
The blocks also include Panchwara Central given to Punjab State Electricity Board, Namchik Namphuk of Arunachal Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation, Baranj 1-IV, Kiloni and Manora Deep of Karnataka Power Corporation ltd, Trans Damodar of West Bengal Mineral Development Corporation, Parsa East and Kanta Basan of Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam and Amelia North of Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation.
Among the blocks which are to commence production in 2014 -15 include NTPC’s Pakri-Barwadih, DVC’s Kagra Joydev and Madhya Pradesh State Mining Corporation’s Bicharpur block.
The Supreme Court on August 25 had said that all coal block allocations made from 1993 to 2010 before pre-auction era during previous NDA and UPA regimes were done in an illegal manner through an “ad-hoc and casual” approach “without application of mind”.
The apex court, which had examined the allocation of 218 blocks, had also said, “there was no fair and transparent procedure, all resulting in unfair distribution of the national wealth.” The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for September 9.