Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said that allotment of coal mines to state-owned firms will happen today. In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Swarup said allotment of mines to Coal India will be with the same conditions as those for state-owned firms.
Swarup declined to comment if there was some flaw in the auction process, which led to some of the bids being rejected for being too low.
“Now that the whole issue is in the High Court (HC), I would rather not comment on it,” Swarup said, adding, “let the court take a call and then we will do accordingly.”
Jindal Steel and Power moved the Delhi High Court after two of its bids were rejected. The High Court has stayed the government’s decision to allot the blocks to Coal India.
Below is the transcript of Anil Swarup's interview with Anshu Sharma on CNBC-TV18:
Was there any flaw in the auction process?
Now that the whole issue is in the High Court (HC), I would rather not comment on it. Let the court take a call and then we will do accordingly.
What was the basis because even if the companies have not been informed of any basis for rejection?
All this is challenged in the HC and as I said earlier, if an issue is subjudice, it would not be appropriate of me to comment on that.
So the government has auctioned 33 coal blocks, what happens to the rest and by when can we expect government dispensation allotment?
Government dispensation allotments will happen today. Decisions has been taken and the orders will be issued late in the afternoon in the consultation states.
What happens to those coal blocks which have not been auctioned and were part of schedule III and schedule II?
Schedule III is not a problem where mining was not happening. In schedule II, wherever the mining was happening and the auction or allotment could not take place, they have been allotted to Coal India so that the mining can continue after March 31.
What will be the design as per which Coal India will be mining from the schedule II coal blocks?
Coal India will get it on the same terms as allotment to the state governments. So they will pay the royalty and the base amount. That will be given by them to state governments and they will continue with the mining process.
When can we expect the third phase of coal auction and how many coal blocks will be up for bidding?
A: The notification for the third tranche of auction should be in third week of April and there is a likelihood of around 16-24 blocks to be put on auction.
What will be the reserves you are looking at for the third phase?
A: Anywhere between 80 million tonnes and 100 million tonnes.
Coal India is lagging in its production, it is around 437 million tonne as per February figure, it had a target of 508 million tonne, so why do you think there is a lag and what will be the target for the next financial year?
A: On the contrary, I think Coal India has had a record production, their growth is about 7.3 percent, which is the highest in last decade. In fact that gives us hope that much more can happen in Coal India. So it may not be appropriate to say that Coal India is lagging behind, it is growing at the fastest pace and the production today is at a record level.
Consequent to which, there is not a single power plant in India which is short of coal today. This is an unusually pleasant occurrence which has not happened in the recent past. So Coal India is doing its job very well but there lot needs to be done and it is a part of our strategy to reach the levels of 1 billion tonne that it will get rolled out from April 1 and there are various activities that need to be undertaken.
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