Reported by Santosh Narayan in Dailypioneer.com on 20 September 2012
Coal scam whiff in de-allocation too

The latest information revealed by the Coal Ministry under the Right to Information Act deciphers yet another game of carrot & stick having been played by the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre.

Data suggests that the UPA not only acted behind the curtains for allocating blocks but also for de-allocating them.

The list, made public on September 18, shows details of blocks with reference to recommendations of the screening committee. The data suggests that since 2005, out of 20 coal blocks de-allocated by the screening committee countrywide, just three belonged to private companies.

The selective ‘pick and drop’ gives broad hints to foul play during screening of the allocated blocks. Companies such as National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) first suffered at the hands of the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) — that over-delayed environmental clearance, unlike to its private counterparts — followed by the Coal Ministry quashing the blocks.

Kerandari coal mine of Hazaribagh had been allocated to the PSU on January 25, 2006. NTPC applied for environmental clearance on March 30, 2007. The application was pending till March 31, 2010. Surprisingly, the committee — on June 14, 2011 — de-allocated the coal mine carrying 229 MT of geological reserves.

The Government-owned power company had to suffer three other blows on the same date, when the screening committee snatched away Chatti Bariatu, Brahmini and Chichro Patsimal blocks.

The latter two were joint ventures with another PSU, Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL). Application for environmental clearance for Chatti Bariatu was moved on November 28, 2008 and granted on April 19, 2010.

Some other PSUs — DVC, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Jharkhand State Electricity Board and West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd — also met with similar fates.

On the other hand, the Coal Ministry showered blessings on private players.

Corporate Ispat was allocated a block at Chitarpur of Latehar and applied for green approval on August 25, 2006, which was speedily granted on May 16, 2007. However, production has yet not started.

Electrosteel was allocated Parbatpur coal block at Bokaro on January 13, 2006 for sponge iron and granted MoEF clearance on January 11, 2007. Though the mine’s production status is still unclear, it has successfully slipped the eyes of the screening committee.

The committee also turned a blind eye to GVK Power (Govindwal Sahib) Ltd that was given Tokisud North block way back in January 7, 2002. The company applied for environmental clearance in March 2008 and granted in the same year. Moreover, the company has no reason to worry about the status of the coal block.

Jayaswal Neco Ltd also seems to have received several leases of life. It was granted green nod for Moitra block in May 2007, just after seven months of applying for it. Production is yet to start.