Govt to form coal regulator via executive order, not Parliament
21 Feb 2014 12:13 AM GMT
‘The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given nod to the proposal to set up coal regulator through an executive order,’ a senior minister said after the meeting here. The regulator will be empowered to specify the principles and methodology for determination of price of raw coal and washed coal and any other by-product generated during washing.
The regulator will also regulate methods for testing for declaration of grades or quality of coal, specify procedure for automatic coal sampling and adjudicate upon disputes between the parties besides monitoring closure of mines and approval of mining plans, among other things.
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier informed Parliament that a non-statutory regulator for the coal sector will be set up through an executive order as enacting a legislation on the subject will take some time. The bill for setting up a regulator for the sector is pending before Parliament.
‘The competent authority has...decided that a non- statutory regulator will be set up through an executive order as enactment of legislation would take some time,’ Jaiswal had said in a reply to the Lok Sabha last week. He had said that based on the recommendations of various committees, the ministry appointed a consultant to draft the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill. This is for regulating as well as conserving resources in the sector and protecting the interests of coal consumers and producers, he had said.
The Draft Bill on the sectoral regulator was circulated to all the ministries and departments concerned seeking their views, he had said. After consideration of the comments received from different ministries/departments and taking them into account, the draft Bill, 2012 was prepared and submitted for the consideration of the competent authority and it was decided to refer the same to the Group of Ministers (GoM).
The GoM held five meetings and a draft Bill, 2013 with changes as per the discussions was finalised with consultations with the Law Ministry. The same was approved by the competent authority on 27 June, 2013. The Ministry of Coal had introduced the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013 in the Lok Sabha on 13 December, 2013.
10 coal mines on deallocation list get more time from IMG
New Delhi: The Inter-Ministerial Group which is meeting next week will not immediately take a call on deallocation of 10 mines but will give one last chance to companies like JSPL, Tata Steel and JSW Steel which are yet to obtain forest clearances to seek green nod within a given time frame.
‘During the meeting next week, the inter-ministerial group (IMG) will seek the current status of stage II forest clearance with regard to the 10 coal blocks and give a certain time period to the companies to obtain clearances,’ a source close to the development said.
‘Immediately, the IMG will not take a call on deallocation of the blocks,’ the official added.
The Coal Ministry had earlier said that the 26th meeting of the IMG will be held on 25 February to consider the cases of allocattees which were required to obtain forest clearance (stage-II).
According to the coal ministry, the 10 coal blocks where stage-II forest clearance is pending include Rohne coal block in Jharkhand jointly allocated to JSW Steel and Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd; Jitpur coal block in Jharkhand allocated to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Brinda and Sasai coal block in Jharkhand allocated to Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd.
The Coal Ministry has also asked the allocattees of the 10 coal blocks to attend the meeting and make presentations before the IMG regarding their preparedness for obtaining stage II forest clearance. It had also requested three states —Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh — to nominate a representative from each state to attend the meeting.
The regulator will also regulate methods for testing for declaration of grades or quality of coal, specify procedure for automatic coal sampling and adjudicate upon disputes between the parties besides monitoring closure of mines and approval of mining plans, among other things.
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had earlier informed Parliament that a non-statutory regulator for the coal sector will be set up through an executive order as enacting a legislation on the subject will take some time. The bill for setting up a regulator for the sector is pending before Parliament.
‘The competent authority has...decided that a non- statutory regulator will be set up through an executive order as enactment of legislation would take some time,’ Jaiswal had said in a reply to the Lok Sabha last week. He had said that based on the recommendations of various committees, the ministry appointed a consultant to draft the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill. This is for regulating as well as conserving resources in the sector and protecting the interests of coal consumers and producers, he had said.
The Draft Bill on the sectoral regulator was circulated to all the ministries and departments concerned seeking their views, he had said. After consideration of the comments received from different ministries/departments and taking them into account, the draft Bill, 2012 was prepared and submitted for the consideration of the competent authority and it was decided to refer the same to the Group of Ministers (GoM).
The GoM held five meetings and a draft Bill, 2013 with changes as per the discussions was finalised with consultations with the Law Ministry. The same was approved by the competent authority on 27 June, 2013. The Ministry of Coal had introduced the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013 in the Lok Sabha on 13 December, 2013.
10 coal mines on deallocation list get more time from IMG
New Delhi: The Inter-Ministerial Group which is meeting next week will not immediately take a call on deallocation of 10 mines but will give one last chance to companies like JSPL, Tata Steel and JSW Steel which are yet to obtain forest clearances to seek green nod within a given time frame.
‘During the meeting next week, the inter-ministerial group (IMG) will seek the current status of stage II forest clearance with regard to the 10 coal blocks and give a certain time period to the companies to obtain clearances,’ a source close to the development said.
‘Immediately, the IMG will not take a call on deallocation of the blocks,’ the official added.
The Coal Ministry had earlier said that the 26th meeting of the IMG will be held on 25 February to consider the cases of allocattees which were required to obtain forest clearance (stage-II).
According to the coal ministry, the 10 coal blocks where stage-II forest clearance is pending include Rohne coal block in Jharkhand jointly allocated to JSW Steel and Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd; Jitpur coal block in Jharkhand allocated to Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) and Brinda and Sasai coal block in Jharkhand allocated to Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd.
The Coal Ministry has also asked the allocattees of the 10 coal blocks to attend the meeting and make presentations before the IMG regarding their preparedness for obtaining stage II forest clearance. It had also requested three states —Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh — to nominate a representative from each state to attend the meeting.
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