Cabinet nod to 4 new mining leases in State

To encourage more and more investors for setting up industries in Jharkhand, the State Cabinet on Tuesday gave its approval to four mining leases in Jharkhand, including two petroleum leases in Bokaro and Jharia.“The Cabinet gave its approval to the mining lease to Hindalco India limited at 668 hectare land of Kathotia coal mines in Palamu while a mining lease for Essar Power Corporation limited at 1,377 acre Taukisood North Coal Block in Hazaribagh was also approved,” said Additional Secretary, Cabinet, JB Oraon.    

The Cabinet also gave its approval to take back 76.74 acre of land from a total of 214 acres allotted to Indian Institute of Management for the purpose of building construction at Nagri in Ranchi.“Out of 90.14 acres of land earlier allotted to Indian Institute of Management for the construction of it campus at Cheri, 87 acres of land was transferred free of cost to Ranchi University for the construction of its new building,” Oraon added.

A total of 21 proposals coming from different departments of the State Government were approved during the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.According to Oraon, the Cabinet also gave its approval to dig up Coal Bed Methane (CBM) at 39.48 square km area in Bokaro and 28.12 square km area in Dhanbad by Oil and Natural Gas limited and Coal India limited.

CBM is an environment-friendly gas which can be used more efficiently. CBM could be a substitute for coal and other gases used in steel and power plants as well as for other industries. CBM, which has become an important source of energy in recent times, is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. The ONGC has found four areas having huge reserves of CBM in eastern region —Raniganj (West Bengal), Dhanbad, Bokaro and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to create and fill up the newly created posts of Special Secretary, Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary. “Post of Special Secretary has been raised from 3 to 12 while the post of Additional Secretary has been raised from 5 to 15. Similarly, the post of Joint Secretary has also been raised from 60 to 75,” said Oraon.

In another decision taken by the State Cabinet, transfer of 25 acres of land belonging to lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Central Jail at Hazaribagh to the Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare for construction of a Hospital at Kolchatti under Sadar area.“Transfer of 105 acre of GM land worth Rs60.53 crore to Union Ministry of Railway was also approved by the State Cabinet for the construction of Tori-Shivpur Railway line,” said Oraon.

The Cabinet also gave its approval to the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the 4000 MW Joint Venture Company between Government of Jharkhand (26%) and National Thermal Power limited (74%) on the basis of state government’s cashless equity.

Name for the scheme for the people suffering from critical diseases was changed to ‘Mukhyamantri Gambhir Bimari Upchaar Yojana’ inducting  71 more diseases and 15 new hospitals to the list for considering a person to grant benefits under the scheme. Now, the government will bear expenses up to `2.5 lakh under the scheme.