Coal India sub-panel to monitor its foreign investment proposals
7 May 2013 12:17 AM GMT
The government on Monday said that state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL) has formed a subcommittee to monitor the proposals with regard to foreign investments.
'The board of directors of Coal India Limited (CIL) has constituted a sub-committee of its board known as Foreign Acquisition Committee, which monitors the foreign investment proposals,' Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in written reply to Rajya Sabha.
CIL had last month invited merchant bankers to assist it in its venture of investing in prospective coal business opportunities overseas.
Earlier, a Parliamentary Panel had pulled up the Maharatna PSU for making no headway in acquisition of coal resources abroad.
The government had earlier said that CIL has proposed an ad-hoc provision of Rs 35,000 crore for acquisition and development of mines abroad by 2017.
Of the proposed amount, 'Rs 25,000 crore has been kept for acquisition and development of coal blocks in other countries like South Africa, Indonesia, Australia, USA, Columbia', according to an official statement.
The remaining Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated for exploration and development of two allotted coal blocks in Mozambique during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) besides creating logistic infrastructure there, it added.
The Standing Committee on Coal and Steel in its report tabled in the Parliament had observed that for the development and acquisition of coal resources aboard, Rs 4,000 crore is reported to have been kept as an ad-hoc provision during 2013-14.
The Committee had expressed concern that against the ad-hoc provision of Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore during FY'12 and FY'13, respectively, CIL did not make any headway in acquiring coal mines overseas and that no amount was utilised for the purpose during fiscal 2011-12.
18 CIL MINING PROJECTS GET GREEN MINISTRY APPROVAL
The union government on Monday said that 18 coal mining projects of state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL)Â have received clearances from the Environment Ministry.
Of these, 14 have received environmental clearances and four forestry clearances, Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
'Soon after the meeting of CCI (Cabinet Committee on Investment)... MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) has accorded environmental clearances (EC) for 14 projects and stage-I forestry clearances (FC) for four projects of Coal India Ltd (CIL),' the minister said.
The government has set up Cabinet Committee on Investment to expedite decision making process for clearance of projects in the infrastructure sector.
Patil further said that a regular interaction between coal ministry and Ministry of Environment and Forest is taking place to address the pending issues concerning both environmental and forestry clearances.
'Similarly, regular interaction with the concerned state government is taking place to address the issues related to land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected persons,' he said.
The Coal Ministry is also holding regular dialogue with Railways to address issues related to pending rail infrastructure projects for coal evacuation in different coalfields, he added.
The Cabinet Committee on Investment had in February considered the proposal of the Coal Ministry regarding fast tracking of the approvals for the environment and forest clearances in respect of 12 coal mining projects, according to an official statement.
According to the Ministry of Coal, these 12 projects will lead to annual coal production of 36.97 million tonne and an investment of Rs 1,347.63 crore.
'The board of directors of Coal India Limited (CIL) has constituted a sub-committee of its board known as Foreign Acquisition Committee, which monitors the foreign investment proposals,' Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in written reply to Rajya Sabha.
CIL had last month invited merchant bankers to assist it in its venture of investing in prospective coal business opportunities overseas.
Earlier, a Parliamentary Panel had pulled up the Maharatna PSU for making no headway in acquisition of coal resources abroad.
The government had earlier said that CIL has proposed an ad-hoc provision of Rs 35,000 crore for acquisition and development of mines abroad by 2017.
Of the proposed amount, 'Rs 25,000 crore has been kept for acquisition and development of coal blocks in other countries like South Africa, Indonesia, Australia, USA, Columbia', according to an official statement.
The remaining Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated for exploration and development of two allotted coal blocks in Mozambique during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17) besides creating logistic infrastructure there, it added.
The Standing Committee on Coal and Steel in its report tabled in the Parliament had observed that for the development and acquisition of coal resources aboard, Rs 4,000 crore is reported to have been kept as an ad-hoc provision during 2013-14.
The Committee had expressed concern that against the ad-hoc provision of Rs 6,000 crore and Rs 5,000 crore during FY'12 and FY'13, respectively, CIL did not make any headway in acquiring coal mines overseas and that no amount was utilised for the purpose during fiscal 2011-12.
18 CIL MINING PROJECTS GET GREEN MINISTRY APPROVAL
The union government on Monday said that 18 coal mining projects of state-owned Coal India Limited (CIL)Â have received clearances from the Environment Ministry.
Of these, 14 have received environmental clearances and four forestry clearances, Minister of State for Coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
'Soon after the meeting of CCI (Cabinet Committee on Investment)... MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) has accorded environmental clearances (EC) for 14 projects and stage-I forestry clearances (FC) for four projects of Coal India Ltd (CIL),' the minister said.
The government has set up Cabinet Committee on Investment to expedite decision making process for clearance of projects in the infrastructure sector.
Patil further said that a regular interaction between coal ministry and Ministry of Environment and Forest is taking place to address the pending issues concerning both environmental and forestry clearances.
'Similarly, regular interaction with the concerned state government is taking place to address the issues related to land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected persons,' he said.
The Coal Ministry is also holding regular dialogue with Railways to address issues related to pending rail infrastructure projects for coal evacuation in different coalfields, he added.
The Cabinet Committee on Investment had in February considered the proposal of the Coal Ministry regarding fast tracking of the approvals for the environment and forest clearances in respect of 12 coal mining projects, according to an official statement.
According to the Ministry of Coal, these 12 projects will lead to annual coal production of 36.97 million tonne and an investment of Rs 1,347.63 crore.
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