By IANS,
New Delhi : A ministerial group headed by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram is likely to meet Monday to discuss the draft Coal Regulator Bill, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said Wednesday.
The bill envisages setting up of a regulatory authority for the coal sector. It was referred to the Group of Ministers by the cabinet for making recommendations on the proposed regulator’s powers and functions.
The coal minister was speaking to reporters here on the sidelines of India Electricity-2013 conference organised by Ministry of Power and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Earlier in his address at the conference, Jaiswal said in order to speed up development of coal blocks, the government had proposed to develop some of state miner Coal India’s blocks through mine developer and operator.
“Modalities are being worked out,” he said.
According to the minister, against an actual growth of 3.8 percent in the 11th Plan, Coal India has been asked to target a growth of 7 percent during the 12th Plan period (2012-16) to ensure more availability of coal through domestic resources.
The supplies of coal in the recent times are falling short of projected demand due to domestic production capacity constraints, and the government is taking all necessary measures in addressing these issues and improving the fuel availability, he said.