Union coal ministry does not seem to be in favour of restructuring Coal India (CIL), the state-run coal behemoth, even as Deloitte has already submitted its draft report on restructuring CIL. The idea of restructuring CIL was originally mooted by the TL Shakar committee report on coal sector reforms in 2007 and subsequently Deloitte had been assigned to study the restructuring of state-owned CIL.
Union coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal on Thursday said, “What is the need and rationale for restructuring Coal India? They have given 290 per cent dividend, the government is very happy about that.”
Speaking to media on the sidelines of International Mining Expo 2014, the coal minister said “As of now, there is no need for restructuring,” and added that he would prefer shelving such a plan. He however refused to divulge details of the Deloitte report.
Meanwhile, speaking at the fifth International Mining Expo 2014, CIL chairman S Narsing Rao said that the current coal shortage of 25 million could have been met by both PSUs and private sector by giving emphasis on underground mining. In this context, the coal minister admitted that underground mining had declined over the years and there was an immediate need for a balanced approach. Jaiswal said that the technology, at present available in the country, for underground mining in India was not so modern and thus we were seeking cooperation from various countries who are leaders in such technologies.
CIL chairman called for regulatory relaxation for underground mining on the ground that the impact on surface in case of underground mining is minimal compared to open cast mining. Underground mining can minimise impact of displacement of people and forest land, he said.
TK Lahiry, president, Mining, Geological & Metallurgical Institute of India said, “The Indian mining industry, which is among top five global producers, is on a strong growth trajectory driven by growing demand from domestic consumers and the opportunity for increased production due to a good resource base of various minerals. Keeping in view the current scenario, India ranks among the world’s top five nations for its core competency commodity reserves of coal and iron ore. Iron ore reserves are estimated in the region of 23 billion tonnes and account for 6 per cent of global reserves while coal reserves are reported to be around 255 billion tones”.
The expo was attended by a high-level Polish trade delegation and group of 20 Polish companies led by Jerzy Witold Pietrewicz, deputy Prime Minister of Poland and the Czech Republic (10 companies), among others.
Source:- mydigitalfc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment