Kick-starting the process of restructuring Coal India Ltd (CIL), the government on Monday invited bids for appointment of advisors to restructure the nation's largest coal producer.
The development follows the Coal Ministry informing the Prime Minister's Office of the appointment of consultants with international expertise and frame timeline to take forward the proposal on restructuring of the state-owned miner. 'Ministry of Coal invites expression of interest (EOI) from the consultancy firms/organisations for taking up the job of providing consultancy for restructuring of Coal India (CIL),' the Coal Ministry said.
The Planning Commission and many high-level panels, including Expert Committee on Road Map for coal sector reforms – also known as T L Shankar Committee – recommended restructuring of CIL keeping in view of the rapidly increasing demand of coal and the need for enhancing coal production and to make the coal sector competitive.
It has been proposed to take up a study, 'to assess the need for restructuring of CIL in light of the avoidance of drawbacks inherent in a monopolistic situation,' and 'to prepare a road map for smooth transition towards proposed restructuring,' among others, the ministry said. The Planning Commission has earlier suggested spinning off CIL subsidiaries into separate entities so that each one of them can pursue its own goals, amid growing supply deficit of coal.
'The industry would be better served if the subsidiaries were spun off as separate public sector companies, encouraged to develop their own strategies of coal development including joint venture activities and acquisition of assets abroad,' said the 12th Five Year (2012-17) Plan document. World's largest coal miner CIL has seven subsidiaries such as Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), and Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd. The coal producer has 3.71 lakh employees.
The document also recommended setting up of a high-level committee with the task of examining the option and asking it to submit a report within six months. The Planning Commission has estimated that the coal import could go up to 185 million tonnes (MT) at the end of the 12th Plan based on total coal demand of 980 MT and domestic supply of 795 MT. Imports could further increase if the domestic production does not grow by 8 per cent as projected. India's coal output was 540 MT during 2011-12 against the demand of 640 MT.
WILL BE ABLE TO AUCTION ONLY SIX OF 12 MINES EXPLORED: GOVT
Of the twelve coal blocks explored so far, only six would be put up for auction due to various reasons, according to sources. 'In total 12 coal mines are explored, but we would be able to put up for auction only six blocks. We would not be able to auction the other six explored mines for reasons like some of them being Coal Bed Methane blocks, among others,' a source in the Coal Ministry said.
Of the 54 coal mines identified to be allocated through auction and government dispensation route, only 12 have been explored so far, Coal Secretary S K Srivastava had earlier said.
The government kick-started the process of allotting coal mines last month and invited proposals from PSUs for allotting 17 blocks to them, mostly for captive power plants. The development came in the wake of the government's repeated announcements to make policy for mines allotment transparent, following CAG terming potential losses of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer on account of blocks allotment to 57 private firms without auction.
Srivastava, had earlier, refused to give a timeframe for conducting auction of these blocks and stated that there were issues which have long-term implications and needs more and more consultations.
The government had advised Crisil to further consult ministries, including Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
'We told them (Crisil) to go and consult Planning Commission with regard to pricing issue. We have also told them to consult MoEF whether in-principle clearances are possible or not,' he said. MoEF, however, conveyed it to the Coal Ministry that in-principle environment and forest clearances for coal mines was not possible.
Crisil had in October submitted a draft report on methodology for fixing floor and reserve price of coal blocks to be auctioned.
The Coal Ministry has identified 54 new coal blocks for auction to the bidders for captive use in different sectors including 16 for power and 12 for steel. Earlier, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had said auction of coal blocks would not be possible last year because of the long process involved in it.
The development follows the Coal Ministry informing the Prime Minister's Office of the appointment of consultants with international expertise and frame timeline to take forward the proposal on restructuring of the state-owned miner. 'Ministry of Coal invites expression of interest (EOI) from the consultancy firms/organisations for taking up the job of providing consultancy for restructuring of Coal India (CIL),' the Coal Ministry said.
The Planning Commission and many high-level panels, including Expert Committee on Road Map for coal sector reforms – also known as T L Shankar Committee – recommended restructuring of CIL keeping in view of the rapidly increasing demand of coal and the need for enhancing coal production and to make the coal sector competitive.
It has been proposed to take up a study, 'to assess the need for restructuring of CIL in light of the avoidance of drawbacks inherent in a monopolistic situation,' and 'to prepare a road map for smooth transition towards proposed restructuring,' among others, the ministry said. The Planning Commission has earlier suggested spinning off CIL subsidiaries into separate entities so that each one of them can pursue its own goals, amid growing supply deficit of coal.
'The industry would be better served if the subsidiaries were spun off as separate public sector companies, encouraged to develop their own strategies of coal development including joint venture activities and acquisition of assets abroad,' said the 12th Five Year (2012-17) Plan document. World's largest coal miner CIL has seven subsidiaries such as Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL), and Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) and Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd. The coal producer has 3.71 lakh employees.
The document also recommended setting up of a high-level committee with the task of examining the option and asking it to submit a report within six months. The Planning Commission has estimated that the coal import could go up to 185 million tonnes (MT) at the end of the 12th Plan based on total coal demand of 980 MT and domestic supply of 795 MT. Imports could further increase if the domestic production does not grow by 8 per cent as projected. India's coal output was 540 MT during 2011-12 against the demand of 640 MT.
WILL BE ABLE TO AUCTION ONLY SIX OF 12 MINES EXPLORED: GOVT
Of the twelve coal blocks explored so far, only six would be put up for auction due to various reasons, according to sources. 'In total 12 coal mines are explored, but we would be able to put up for auction only six blocks. We would not be able to auction the other six explored mines for reasons like some of them being Coal Bed Methane blocks, among others,' a source in the Coal Ministry said.
Of the 54 coal mines identified to be allocated through auction and government dispensation route, only 12 have been explored so far, Coal Secretary S K Srivastava had earlier said.
The government kick-started the process of allotting coal mines last month and invited proposals from PSUs for allotting 17 blocks to them, mostly for captive power plants. The development came in the wake of the government's repeated announcements to make policy for mines allotment transparent, following CAG terming potential losses of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer on account of blocks allotment to 57 private firms without auction.
Srivastava, had earlier, refused to give a timeframe for conducting auction of these blocks and stated that there were issues which have long-term implications and needs more and more consultations.
The government had advised Crisil to further consult ministries, including Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
'We told them (Crisil) to go and consult Planning Commission with regard to pricing issue. We have also told them to consult MoEF whether in-principle clearances are possible or not,' he said. MoEF, however, conveyed it to the Coal Ministry that in-principle environment and forest clearances for coal mines was not possible.
Crisil had in October submitted a draft report on methodology for fixing floor and reserve price of coal blocks to be auctioned.
The Coal Ministry has identified 54 new coal blocks for auction to the bidders for captive use in different sectors including 16 for power and 12 for steel. Earlier, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had said auction of coal blocks would not be possible last year because of the long process involved in it.