Govt to allot 17 coal mines to PSUs from next month
6 March 2013 5:56 AM IST
The government said on Tuesday that it will begin allocating 17 coal blocks to public sector undertakings (PSUs) by the end of next month. Asked when the Coal Ministry would begin allotting mines to government firms, Coal Secretary S K Srivastava replied, ‘It should be by the middle of April or end of April.’
The government had last year put on offer 14 coal blocks for power sector and three for mining firms. He also told reporters on the sidelines of a function here that the government is will willing to allot mines through the competitive bidding route as soon as possible.
‘We are addressing one or two issues.... Definitely we want to come out with it (coal block allocation through auction route) as quickly as possible,’ the secretary said.
Replying to a question on the recent announcements made by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram with regard to increase in basic customs and countervailing duty (CVD) on steam coal and reduction in the basic customs duty and CVD on bituminous coal, Srivastava said that it would not have a major impact on the tariffs.
‘They have just set it in a proper shape by having single import duty rather than having differential import duty and I don’t think it is going to have a very major impact in power tariff specially if you see it in the context of proposed price pooling mechanism will will come into place next year,’ he remarked.
The Finance Minister in his Budget speech announced a hike in the basic customs duty on steam coal from nil to 2 per cent and countervailing duty (CVD) from 1 to 2 per cent. He also announced a cut in the basic customs duty on bituminous coal from 5 to 2 per cent and CVD from 6 to 2 per cent.
CIL sets 492-mt target for FY14
Coal India Ltd (CIL) has set for itself an ambitious 492-million tonne (mt) production target for the next fiscal (2013-14) even as the state-run firm is set to miss the current fiscal's 464 mt target by a whisker.
'Even this year, when the Planning Commission was setting the target for next year...we in the Coal Ministry had taken an additional 5-mt production. For CIL, next year's target was supposed to be 487 mt, we have taken the target to 492 mt,' Coal Secretary S K Srivastava said at an Assocham event here.
If the target for 2013-14 is met, CIL's move to burden itself with higher production would set an unprecedented example.
The additional 5-mt production that it plans to achieve compared to the 487 mt set by the Planning Commission would be allocated to the power sector and, thus, the total supply to the coal-hungry sector would go up to 377 mt from the earlier 372 mt envisaged for the 2013-14 fiscal, he added.
Coal India Ltd hopes to annually produce 615 million tonnes coal by the end of the current plan period (2012-17).
The government had last year put on offer 14 coal blocks for power sector and three for mining firms. He also told reporters on the sidelines of a function here that the government is will willing to allot mines through the competitive bidding route as soon as possible.
‘We are addressing one or two issues.... Definitely we want to come out with it (coal block allocation through auction route) as quickly as possible,’ the secretary said.
Replying to a question on the recent announcements made by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram with regard to increase in basic customs and countervailing duty (CVD) on steam coal and reduction in the basic customs duty and CVD on bituminous coal, Srivastava said that it would not have a major impact on the tariffs.
‘They have just set it in a proper shape by having single import duty rather than having differential import duty and I don’t think it is going to have a very major impact in power tariff specially if you see it in the context of proposed price pooling mechanism will will come into place next year,’ he remarked.
The Finance Minister in his Budget speech announced a hike in the basic customs duty on steam coal from nil to 2 per cent and countervailing duty (CVD) from 1 to 2 per cent. He also announced a cut in the basic customs duty on bituminous coal from 5 to 2 per cent and CVD from 6 to 2 per cent.
CIL sets 492-mt target for FY14
Coal India Ltd (CIL) has set for itself an ambitious 492-million tonne (mt) production target for the next fiscal (2013-14) even as the state-run firm is set to miss the current fiscal's 464 mt target by a whisker.
'Even this year, when the Planning Commission was setting the target for next year...we in the Coal Ministry had taken an additional 5-mt production. For CIL, next year's target was supposed to be 487 mt, we have taken the target to 492 mt,' Coal Secretary S K Srivastava said at an Assocham event here.
If the target for 2013-14 is met, CIL's move to burden itself with higher production would set an unprecedented example.
The additional 5-mt production that it plans to achieve compared to the 487 mt set by the Planning Commission would be allocated to the power sector and, thus, the total supply to the coal-hungry sector would go up to 377 mt from the earlier 372 mt envisaged for the 2013-14 fiscal, he added.
Coal India Ltd hopes to annually produce 615 million tonnes coal by the end of the current plan period (2012-17).
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