Development of Coal
Sector
Coal is the mainstay of India India ranks
third in coal production globally after China
and USA
The Ministry of Coal is responsible for
exploration, production and distribution of coal and lignite to meet the
requirements of different consumers and through the public sector undertakings
it is discharging its responsibilities. Coal India Ltd. and Neyveli Lignite
Corporation Ltd. (NLC) are the two Central PSUs under the administrative
control of the Ministry. Singareni Collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) is the joint
undertaking of Government of Andhra Pradesh and Government of India with equity
sharing in the ratio of 51:49 respectively.
The need for systematic and scientific
development of coal industry was recognized from the inception of the process
of national economic planning in the country. National Coal Development Corporation
(NCDC) was set up in 1956 which was the first step towards planned development
of the industry. Singareni
Collieries co. Ltd. (SCCL) was already a government company in 1956 and Central
Government started equity
participation in SCCL from 1960 onwards. However, comprehensive development
programme could be initiated only after nationalisation of the industry in the
early 1970s and formation of Coal India Ltd. (CIL).
Soon after nationalisation of coal sector
in the early 1970s, Coal India Ltd. (CIL) was formed as a holding company in
1975 with four coal producing companies and one planning and design institute
and the level of production was about 73 million tonnes at the time of its
formation. Today CIL has seven coal producing companies and one planning and
design institute with their operations spread over eight states and has
achieved a level of 436 million tonnes in 2011-12.
Coal production enhancement is basically
through taking up of new projects under the public sector companies of the
Ministry and development of blocks allotted to various companies in public and
private sectors. In addition, acquisition of coal properties abroad has also
been adopted for securing coal supplies in meeting the demand.
A number of policy initiatives taken
by the Government over last three decades has strengthened the coal sector in
enhancing production with due regard to safety and environment.
Introduction of setting of economic
reforms in the early 1990s led to tapering off the budgetary support. After a
major capital restructuring of CIL in 1996, the budgetary support to CIL was
completely stopped. Coal prices were partially decontrolled in 1996 and
administrative pricing mechanism was discontinued on complete decontrol of coal
prices with effect from 1,
January, 2000 and coal companies were empowered to notify the prices.
Subsequently the boards of the performing coal companies were delegated higher
financial powers for decision making on their own. A new coal distribution policy
was introduced in 2007 and fuel supply agreements have been made mandatory.
Coal royalty has been fixed on advalorem basis in place of mixed approach of
fixed and advalorem rates. The Government has also encouraged acquisition of
coal equity abroad from energy security point of view. Import duty on coal
imports has been tapered off and currently there is no import duty on imports.
Similarly, import duty on project imports has also been removed from the
current fiscal. A proposal
for setting up independent regulatory authority for Coal is under consideration
of Government. A Bill to permit private sector in the commercial mining of coal
has been awaiting consideration of the Parliament.
Coal production has risen from about
78 million tonnes in 1975 to 540 million tonnes in 2011-12, the Terminal year
of the XI Plan. About 100
million tonnes of coal was imported in 2011-12 which forms about 15% of the
coal consumption of about 650 million tonnes during 2011-12.
The coal production target in the
Terminal Year 2016-17 of the XII Plan is set at 795 MT implying a growth of 8%
against the actual growth of about 4.6% in the XI Plan. However, when compared
with the projected demand of 980.50 MT in 2016-17, a gap of 185.5 MT exists
between domestic production and the projected demand. This would need to be met
through coal imports.
There have been constraints in enhancing
coal production in terms of environmental issues, land acquisition, R&R,
coal evacuation and law & order in some places. However, Ministry of Coal
has been taking up the issues with the concerned State and Central authorities
on regular basis for amicable solutions. Over the period of time the
rehabilitation package of CIL has evolved and made more liberal than the
National R&R Policy. Coal companies can adopt either CIL’s policy or the
concerned State Govt. Policy whichever is liberal.
Coal evacuation is one of the critical
area in the entire coal supply chain in the country and railways are the major
bulk transporter. While efforts to strengthen the existing infrastructure are
being made on continuous basis, the most important rail connectivity projects
in the potential coalfield areas have been taken up by the Ministry with the
Ministry of Railways and the State Governments concerned. These projects will be funded through
the internal resources of CIL. Action plan has been drawn in regard to
implementation of these projects and railways, Ministry of Coal and coal
companies are regularly monitoring the status of implementation.
The pending issues regarding
environment and forestry clearances are being regularly addressed in
consultation with Ministry of Environment and Forests and the State Governments
concerned. All the mitigation measures as approved by Ministry of Environment
and Forests while according environmental clearance are being strictly followed
by the coal companies while implementing the projects and rigorous monitoring
by both coal companies and the State Pollution Control Boards is being done.
Mine reclamation and rehabilitation
through properly drawn mine closure plans are being addressed both during the
mining and at the stage of final closure. The Ministry has issued comprehensive
guidelines in regard to preparation of mine closure plans which are now
integral part of mining plans. Mine owners are bound through financial
commitment by charging specified rate per hectare of land involved and through
opening an escrow account with coal controller.
The Government has approved a Master
Plan to address the issues of fires, land subsidence and rehabilitation of
affected persons in the old mined out areas of Jharia and Raniganj coalfields
for implementation in ten year’s time. Jharia Rehabilitation and development Authority
in the State of Jharkhand and Asansol Durgapur
Development Authority in the state of West Bengal
have been entrusted with the job of implementation of Rehabilitation works
particularly for private people and BCCL and ECL will be responsible for rehabilitating
their colonies and employees. The Government will provide financial resources
for implementing the project.
After amendment of the Coal Mines
(Nationalisation) Act in 1993, the allocation of coal blocks for captive
purposes was started. The
coal blocks for private sector were allocated through a mechanism of
Inter-Ministerial and Inter-Governmental Screening Committee. The coal blocks were also allocated to
Government Companies. So
far 218 coal blocks were allocated out of which 177 coal blocks stand allocated
as on date. The MM(DR) Act,
1957 was amended in 2010 providing for competitive bidding as selection process
for allocation of blocks to Private Sector. The details Rules for the above
purpose have also been notified. Consequently,
the Government has offered 17 coal blocks for allocation to Government
Companies. The modalities
for allocation of blocks to Private Companies through bidding are under
finalisation.
Emphasis is laid on technology
development and modernisation in the mines of CIL for improved production,
productivity and safety.
As far as lignite is concerned, the
currently assessed reserves stand at about 42 billion tonnes of which about 6
billion tonnes or about 15% are in the proved category. More than 80% of the
lignite resources occur in the State of Tamil Nadu
and about 12% in Rajasthan and 6% in Gujarat .
The balances are spread over Puducherry, J&K and Kerala.
The lignite production in the country has
increased from about 8 million tonnes in 1984-85, the Terminal Year of the VI
Plan to 43.10 million tonnes in 2011-12, the Terminal Year of the XI Plan.
Lignite production is projected to reach about 68 million tonnes in 2016-17,
the Terminal Year of the XII Plan. The important producers of lignite in the
country are Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Gujarat Mineral Development
Corporation and Rajasthan State Mines & Minerals Development Corporation.
Neyveli’s lignite production in 2011-12 was 24.59 million tonnes and the same
is projected to be 30.51 million tonnes in 2016-17, the Terminal Year of the
XII Plan. The production from NLC is directly linked to downstream power units
and one of the IPPs. The currently installed power generation capacity of
Neyveli is 2490 MW and has generated 18,789 Million Units (gross generation).
The Government has introduced Gross
Calorific Value (GCV) based grading and pricing of thermal coals on par with
best international practices of coal trading in the world with effect from
1.1.2012. Emphasis is laid on coal quality improvement through proper crushing,
sizing and preparation and strengthening sampling arrangements. Coal
beneficiation is being addressed on priority. Both environmental and economic
considerations are the drivers for promoting coal beneficiation in the country.
At the same time development of clean
coal technologies covering coal bed methane, underground gasification, coal to
liquids or coal liquefaction have been under focus for quite some time. Government has already offered 33 coal
blocks for exploration and exploitation of CBM in four rounds of bidding and
four blocks have entered in to commercial production with some 2.5 lakh cubic
meters per day of gas production. CIL has conceived five Coal Mine Methane
projects and after consultation, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas have
agreed to facilitate CIL through nomination for commercial exploitation of CBM
and a policy framework in this regard is under process. Government has
allocated two coal blocks for CTL purposes to two private companies. The
Ministry has also identified 5 lignite blocks and two coal blocks for
development of UCG and the same will be offered in due course of time.
Since coal has to continue to play a
critical role in supporting India
No comments:
Post a Comment