By IANS,
Kolkata : The coal ministry will de-allocate 13 coal blocks owned by private companies after getting approval of the law ministry, which is expected within a week, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has said.
In September, the government had accepted the recommendation of the Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) for de-allocating 13 mines and deducting bank guarantees of 14 allottees.
“That (IMG’s recommendation) has gone to the law ministry. Whenever that report will come, it (coal blocks) will be de-allocated,” Jaiswal said at a programme organised by the Coal India Limited (CIL) here Thursday evening.
Asked when the law ministry’s report will come, Jaiswal said: “Any day within a week, I feel the report should come.”
The minister said the de-allocation letters are legal documents and, therefore, his ministry thought it would be in order to take the law ministry’s concurrence before sending them to the defaulting allottees.
Also, the ministry has asked the Coal Controller to calculate the amount to be deducted from the bank guarantees given by the companies.
He said the IMG on coal blocks would meet Nov 5-6 to give its review report regarding the 31 mines allocated to public sector companies for captive use.
The central government had formed the IMG in July to review the coal blocks allocated to companies for captive use. Some 58 mines have been issued show cause notice for their failure to develop blocks within the given time-frame.