Cabinet may clear Coal Block Auction Bill on Tuesday

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet is expected to clear on Tuesday a bill on coal block auctions to replace the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance, 2014, which was promulgated to facilitate the process, government sources said.

The bill and its passage in Parliament is keenly awaited as it would end any uncertainty about the auction process along with an enabling provision that could pave the way for commercial mining of coal by private companies, instead of limiting it to government companies such as Coal India.

The development follows the Supreme Court order on September 24 cancelling 204 coal block allotments after terming them arbitrary and illegal.

Following the order, the government came out with the ordinance enabling e-auction of coal blocks to end-user industries such as power, cement and steel. The ordinance provides for the allocation of coal mines and vesting of the right, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure and mining leases to allottees with a view to ensure continuity in coal mining operations.

The government emphasised transparency and promoting the optimum utilisation of coal resources when it promulgated the ordinance.