Coal block auctioning to begin in two months: Jaiswal

Ranchi: Union Coal Minister Shriprakash Jaiswal Friday said new coal blocks had been identified and their auctioning would begin in the next two months.

“The coal block auctioning will begin in two months. The coal blocks have been identified. The identified coal blocks have been categorised for PSUs (public sector undertakings), private sector and others,” he told reporters here.

He denied that there was any scam in allocation of coal blocks.

[caption id=“attachment_337134” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=““The identified coal blocks have been categorised for PSUs (public sector undertakings), private sector and others,” Jaiswal said.”]  [/caption]

“There is no scam in allocation of the coal blocks. The coal blocks were allocated since 1993 considering the need of the country for thermal power sectors.

More from Business

Hyundai India’s Rs 27,870 crore IPO oversubscribed by 2.28X, largely driven by institutional investors How Indian fintech startups are driving Malaysia’s UPI-like digital payments revolution

“The CIL (Coal India Limited) could not meet the requirements of the thermal power plants and this is the reason coal blocks were allocated,” Jaiswal said.

He said: “A total of 220 coal blocks were allocated since 1993. The allocation of 27 coal blocks was cancelled. Of the rest 193 coal blocks, 100 were allocated to private sectors and 93 to PSUs. Only 29 of the 193 allocated coal blocks are operating.”

The coal minister said 35 coal blocks were also allocated during the tenure of the National Democratic Alliance government.

He also denied the role of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in allocation of the coal blocks.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

Tata Harrier EV vs Mahindra XEV 9e: Design and road presence compared

As Trump weaponises tariff, Fed sees a bigger worry: Not jobs, but rising prices in America

To a query, he said coal mafia were outsourcing coal and it was the duty of the state governments to curb illegal mining.

IANS