By IANS,
New Delhi : Out of 195 coal blocks allocated to public and private sectors, 30 have started production, Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said Monday.
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said the remaining coal blocks which have not started production are in various stages of obtaining statutory clearances and mining lease, preparing mining plans and acquiring land, machinery and equipment.
The coal sector has been in focus for its production and offtake, especially in the wake of the worst blackout the country faced earlier this month.
The minister said the development of coal blocks involves a gestation period of three to five years for reaching production stage and another two to three years for reaching optimal production capacity.
In event of wilful delay in the development of coal blocks, the government retains the right to de-allocate the said block, the minister said.
As on date, the Government has de-allocated 25 coal blocks.
After the review of progress in various captive blocks, the coal ministry had earlier issued show cause notices to 84 coal block allottees. Government companies deallocated include the Damodar Valley Corporation, NTPC and Jharkhand State Electricity Board.
The minister also said that public sector miner Coal India Limited (CIL) has been supplying more than 90 percent of the targets fixed in the annual supply plan of the coal ministry.
CIL supplies to power companies have been 96 percent, 91 percent and 95 percent of targets in 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, respectively, and improved to 98 percent in the current year up to June 2012.
The minister said that more dispatches could not be made owing to problems like transportation constraints, law and order issues in states like Jharkhand and Odisha, seasonal adversities like heavy rains and regulation of coal supplies by some power stations for their own reasons.
CIL’s coal production has increased from 361 million tonnes in 2006-07 to 436 million tonnes in 2011-12, the final year of the 12th Five Year Plan. It is envisaged to reach 615 million tonnes in 2016-17.
As against a domestic demand of 696 million tonnes of coal in 2011-12, coal production during the fiscal was 540 million tonnes, which left a gap of 156 million tonnes.
The Minister said efforts are being made to raise coal production through taking up new projects in public sector (PSU) coal companies and development of captive blocks allotted to both private and PSU companies.
The government is also resorting to more coal imports to meet the shortage.