Section 9B of MMDR Act, 1957 empowers State Governments to establish District Mineral Foundation (DMF) to work for welfare and benefit of persons, and areas affected by mining related operations and make
PANJIM: In a major exercise, Mines and Geology department will now classify all the 90 mining leases based on their legal status by appointing two teams which will visit all the mines. Director of Mines and Geology Prasanna Acharya said that all the mining leases would be coded in three different colours – green, brown and red.
‘Increasing production and despatch are the biggest challenges' Few Coal India Ltd (CIL) chairmen have had to don the chieftain's robes at a more critical juncture. As if taking on charge of the world's
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has exposed alleged large scale irregularities by Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Limited (CMDCL) in awarding contract for commercial mining of a coal block in the state, leading to an anticipated loss of `1,052.20 crores revenue to state exchequer. The CAG report, which was tabled in the state Assembly on Tuesday by chief minister Raman Singh, pointed out that the state government had accepted “abnormally low rate” from a lone bidder, which participated in the bidding for mining of Bhatgaon II Extension Coal Block in July 2008 in violation of tender rules.
Cracking down on illegal mining, the Department of Mines and Geology of Goa on Tuesday took a series of decisions, including the suspension of around 460 licences pending verification, and gave 15 days to all traders to submit documents. The government planned to come out with a comprehensive policy by May-end, said the new Director of Mines and Geology, Prasanna Acharya, on Tuesday.
New Delhi The government proposes to offer deallocated captive coal blocks of private sector companies to Coal India in a bid to accelerate coal production. This would enable the PSU to meet all its fuel commitments to the power sector. The coal ministry, which has so far cancelled allocation of 26 captive coal blocks, is considering to offer bulk of these blocks to CIL so that it can commence production quickly.
“This is no logic. If this is accepted, then there are so many hydro projects in the country. Tell me whether usage of water was charged,” Mr. Jaiswal asked. He said the argument in the CAG draft report was “baseless”, especially because when the blocks were given to the private and public sector companies for their captive usage, there was not much demand for coal.
Hyderabad The Andhra Pradesh government has given away 88,492 acres land to 1,027 beneficiaries between 2006-11, resulting in a huge multi-crore land scam, a Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report has said. The scathing report, which has been tabled in the state’s legislative assembly, is the CAG’s first comprehensive audit report on land allotments in Andhra Predesh.
The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) on Thursday reiterated its stand that no new mining leases should be granted in Bellary, Tumkur and Chitradurga districts unless rehabilitation plans for the existing leases were executed. The committee also maintained that the combined iron ore production from the mines should not exceed 30 million metric tonnes. It is imperative that any new mining lease should be considered only after the reclamation and rehabilitation plans (R&R) of the existing mining leases are successfully implemented and based on the existing infrastructure facilities and carrying capacity of the area,
New Delhi The coal ministry plans to start bidding for 50 captive coal blocks from June may get delayed a little. Pushed into a corner by the draft CAG audit report over allocation of coal blocks sans auction to scores of public and private companies during 2004-2009, the ministry has decided to appoint a consultant to fix up the method of calculating the price of a coal block before putting it out for bidding.
Documents obtained by The Hindu show that the Union Coal Ministry was made aware as far back as July 2004 that flawed policies that allotted captive coal blocks rather than auctioning them would give unearned “windfall gains” to private parties. A leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor-General has reportedly estimated a loss of Rs. 10.67 lakh crore to the exchequer due to the government's failure to auction coal blocks.
