Coal Ordinance News

Taking forward its decision to open up the coal sector for commercial mining, the government may allot more than 10 coal blocks to PSUs in the current fiscal for production and sale of the fossil fuel.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday observed that while the 2014 Coal Ordinance is completely in sync with the national economic policy, the "executive decisions" with respect to auction of coal "are not".

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Coal Mines bill to allow e-auction of coal blocks after the Supreme Court cancelled their allocation leading to uncertainty in the coal sector, amid opposition by Left and some other opposition parties.

Government on Tuesday suffered a jolt when the Supreme Court dismissed its plea to stop private firms from challenging the validity of certain provisions of the controversial 2014 Coal Ordinance in various high courts.

Delhi High Court Monday agreed to hear GVK Power Ltd's plea challenging provisions of the 2014 Coal Ordinance on the grounds that it was aggrieved at the "arbitrary" determination of compensation for its mining infrastructure which was much lower than it expected.

Government will constitute a panel to determine technical eligibility of bidders for coal mines in the upcoming auction.

Alleging that the NDA government has inherited fiscal deficit, revenue deficit and current account deficit and "above all trust deficit", he said the confidence has now come back and things are now looking up.

Taking the auction process forward, the government has put 40 more coal mines on offer for auction and allotment, of which 26 blocks would go to the power sector.

Seeking to enlist the support of Parliamentarians against the Coal ordinance, an NGO from Chhattisgarh has termed it as anti-people and claimed that it only serves the interests of the corporates.

Criticising the Centre's move to issue ordinances on FDI in the insurance sector and coal block allocation, central trade unions including RSS-affiliated BMS said such moves were "highly detrimental" to national interest and threatened a nationwide strike.

Paving way for additional foreign investment in insurance and to move ahead with the re-allocation of cancelled coal mines, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday signed the two ordinances in this regard.

The government on Thursday kickstarted the auction process for cancelled coal mines with the launch of a portal for electronic bidding for 24 coal blocks in the first tranche.

The e-auction process, for which the guidelines were approved by the Union Cabinet along with the ordinance, would start with 24 coal mines.

Shares of companies in insurance sector gained as much as 4 percent Wednesday after the government approved the Ordinance route to implement insurance reforms.

The e-auction process, for which the guidelines were approved by the Union Cabinet yesterday along with the ordinance, would start with 24 coal mines on Thursday.

The government had to go in for re-promulgation of the Ordinance as the Rajya Sabha could not take up the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill.

The government may look at other alternatives if the passage of Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill faces hiccups in the Rajya Sabha.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed petitions filed by two firms including the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) Ltd against the Ordinance that has paved way for auctioning of coal mines across the country.

The government Tuesday cleared a Bill on coal block auctions to replace an ordinance that was promulgated to begin auction of coal mines that were cancelled by the Supreme Court.

A bill seeking to replace the coal blocks allocation ordinance that unveiled the NDA government's ambitious coal sector reforms will be brought in Parliament this week.