Coal ministry proposes to finance railway racks to speed up dispatch of coal

Saturday, 04 Jun 2011

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal union minister of coal said that coal ministry has proposed to finance the purchase railway of racks to speed up dispatches of coal to various sectors. Dispatches of coal to power sector in April 2011 as grown 12.8% over the corresponding period of 2010. To augment it further CIL required 30 more racks. Coal India can provide required financial support to railway for purchasing racks exclusive for coal dispatches.

Highlighting the efforts being made to augment coal availability in the country, he said coal linkages are being rationalized. The policy guidelines on disposal of surplus coal, by products from captive blocks are also under preparation.

Mr Jaiswal said in order to promote Underground Coal Gasification which is a Clean Coal Technology. Ministry of coal has issued a set of guidelines for conducting UCG operations. Beside this, the policy on allocation of small and isolated coal and lignite pockets has been finalized and placed on the website of the ministry of coal for calling comments from the stakeholders and general public. He expressed the hope that as a result of these initiatives, coal production target this year will be met.

Regarding level playing field for all players in the coal sector, he said that very soon the government will introduce a Bill for Coal Regulator Authority. Suitable suggestions from various stakeholders are being included in a draft note already prepared for this purpose, he informed. Guidelines or competitive meetings of coal blocks have also been drafted and have been circulated for comments or suggestions from the stakeholders. He said these guidelines will bring more transparency in the allocation of coal blocks

Reiterating his ministry's commitment to improve the functioning of coal sector in the country, Mr Jaiswal said performance in all the allocated coal blocks is being monitored continuously and suitable action will be taken if the performance is found unsatisfactory against the mile stone set off. sourced steelguru