All the accused, including Jindal, Koda and Rao, said there was no evidence which showed that they were in any conspiracy during the coal block allocation process
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India is in talks with companies in Poland and Australia for technical help in upgrading its coking coal quality
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A drop in Indonesian exports to India, which imported around 165 million tonnes of thermal coal in 2015, offers an opportunity for South Africa, analysts said
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India has launched a round of auctions of mines so that private firms can extract coal for their own use, after the Supreme Court in August 2014 cancelled more than 200 illegal coal block awards made over two decades
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Coal Secretary Anil Swarup wants all seven of Coal India's producing units to use a GPS-based tracking system for their trucks and Google maps to electronically "fence" mining areas, which will alert managers if a truck diverts from its route
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India is getting ready to open up commercial coal mining to private companies for the first time in four decades, with the aim of shifting the world's third-biggest coal importer towards energy self-sufficiency
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Crude oil futures fell 0.44 per cent to Rs 2,517 per barrel today, in line with a weak trend in Asian trade, as speculators cut down their bets.
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Coal shortages will be a thing of the past and India won’t need to import dry fuel by 2017, except to meet requirements of the power plants located near coastal area, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday (16 November).“I have been on record to say that I judged that by 2017, India should not need to import coal except for those coastal plants where it is very difficult to transmit coal. I am fairly confident the era of shortages is over,” Goyal said addressing at a KPMG event ENrich 2015. “At next level of UDAY we are looking at complete ability to exchange coal or to swap coal, complete synergy in the in power and coal sectors so that coal is used most efficiently by the most efficient power plants at the nearest location and power is transmitted rather than coal,” said the Minister for Coal, Power and New & Renewable Energy.Coal imports are declining and they fell for the fourth consecutive month in October by 5.1 per cent to 14.52 million tonnes (MT) over same month year ago. In September the import of dry fuel dropped by 27.16 per cent to 12.6 MT on rise in domestic production. India had imported 212.103 million tonnes of coal worth over Rs 1 lakh crore last fiscal. The government is eyeing to achieve 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production by 2020. India is the third-largest producer of coal after China and the US with 299 billion tonnes of resources and 123 billion tonnes of proven reserves, which may last for over 100 years. Later, Goyal tweeted, “A quasi sovereign fund is being launched for renewable energy with an RFP soon for appointing the fund manager.” The minister thinks that the renewable energy capacity target of 175 GW by 2022, is not only doable but necessary also in view of energy security of the country. He said,”Energy has to reach the last man at affordable prices. Way forward is energy efficiency, low power prices.” The minister also said that South India benefited by 5000 MW of additional power in last 18 months and 20,000 MW additional transmission capacity in pipeline. As per the minister’s view with launch of discoms revival schemes UDAY, REC and PFC can lend USD 20 billion for areas like transmission, renewables etc. He also tweeted, “250 million tonnes of coal washeries in pipeline. Standard design of washeries to leverage economies of scale.” Goyal also said that the government is working with the NITI Aayog to draw a blue print for energy policy in the country. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the government is working on a comprehensive energy policy with NITI Aayog which will elaborate about energy mix of the country till 2050. Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan released a KPMG India report titled ‘The Rising Sun – Disruption on the Horizon’. The report highlighted that solar energy could scale up substantially to be a significant energy source by 2025, with the market penetration of solar power expected to be 5.7 per cent (54 GW) by 2020 and 12.5 per cent (166 GW) by 2025. India aims to reduce emission intensity of its GDP by 33- 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 levels, and solar power is likely to contribute 4 per cent towards this target, the report states. It also talked about how the scale up and competitiveness of solar power could disrupt the traditional generators. The disruptive force is expected to start being felt from 2017 and may accelerate post 2020. In some states, which are promoting solar (and also wind power) aggressively, conventional coal generators could see their Plant Load Factors (PLFs) fall by as much as 10-15 per cent by 2020, as solar replaces coal-fired generation in the daytime hours. This effect may speed up post 2020 with the annual addition of large amounts of solar (estimated to exceed by 20 GW per year by 2022-23). The report also highlights that the price for solar power has seen a decline; today, in India, solar prices are within 15 per cent of the coal power prices on a levelised basis and, it is expected that that by 2020, solar power prices would be approximately 10 per cent lower than coal power prices. The solar rooftop power, today, is already competitive compared to grid power for many consumers and, as per the report, if combined with storage, it could be cheaper than grid power after 2022 for a large section of the consumers and drive a considerable shift to rooftop power. A Solar House that is self-sufficient in energy terms could be a reality within the coming decade. (PTI)
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Looking at utilising underground mines more efficiently, CIL has invited bids from consultants for preparing a study on a range of issues, including raising output, as the state-owned firm gears up to meet the ambitious production target of 1 billion tonnes. There are 227 working underground mines and 28 mixed mines under Coal India Ltd. "CMPDI, on behalf of Coal India Ltd (CIL), invites offers/bids through e-tendering from academic/research institutions and/or consultancy firms/organisations of India or abroad for providing consultancy services for 'study on underground coal mining in CIL - problems, potential, technology, modernisation, production and safety'," according to a tender document dated November 2, 2015. About Rs 762 crore is likely to be invested in the underground coalmines in the ongoing fiscal. Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal had earlier said that as against the output target of 37.6 million tonnes (MT) from the underground mines last fiscal, CIL had produced a little over 35 MT. The scope for augmenting production from the underground mines, he had said, was limited on account of difficult geo-mining conditions, non-availability of large size deposits for adopting mass production technologies, inadequate experience in mechanisation of underground mines. He had said that the major constraints in increasing coal production from underground mines, include lack of appropriate technologies to mine coal from thick and steeply inclines and multiple seams, heavy pumping out of water and adverse roof conditions. The government has set an ambitious 1 billion tonnes coal production target for CIL by 2020. It accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output. (PTI)
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Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has been lobbying New Delhi to lift a ban on dangerous, small-scale coal mining operations in his state, without disclosing that his wife owns several mines there, according to documents seen by Reuters.So-called "rat-hole" mining practised in Meghalaya state killed thousands of workers, including children, before the ban was imposed in April last year. At its peak the state produced coal worth $4 billion a year, or about a tenth of India's total production, nearly all from this form of small-scale mining.In half a dozen letters to the central government, Sangma's administration has asked for help to revoke the ban imposed on rat-hole mining in the state by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), India's environment court.Sangma argues that the industry forms a large part of the impoverished state's income and the prohibition violates tribal law. He also plans to propose an alternative plan to regulate mining and address the court’s environmental concerns.In the letters, he does not say that his lawmaker wife, Dikkanchi D. Shira, owns six mines in the state. However, Sangma has said his family's interest in the mines was publicly known.A senior central government official with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed that Sangma had not talked about his family's ownership of the mines during discussions with New Delhi.In an interview, Sangma denied any conflict of interest.He said he had declared his family's interest in the mines to the election commission during state elections in 2013, as required under the country's polling laws. He had told the president of his political party about the mines as well."I was fortunate to get married to a rich wife, who inherited the mines," Sangma said.He said his wife's mines were in "running condition", but they stopped extracting coal after he first became chief minister of the state in 2010. Sangma has held several ministerial positions since 1998.There is no law on conflict of interest in India for ministers.An expert said Sangma's actions violate the government’s code of conduct that calls for ministers and their immediate families to sever ties with any business that depends "on licenses, permits, quotas, leases, etc., received or to be received from the government concerned."The code is not legally binding and carries no penalties for violations. "If your wife owns a certain mine, and you as the chief minister are writing letters, then it's a case of the office of the chief minister being used in support of a private business," said Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, executive director of Transparency International in India.Sangma said his push did not violate the code. "We know our responsibilities," he said, but declined to elaborate.Worker DeathsPrivate coal mining in Meghalaya, estimated to have 576 million tonnes or 0.2 percent of the country's total reserves, started in 1894. The practice became illegal in the 1970s, when India nationalised coal mines and gave state-run Coal India <COAL.NS>, the world's top coal miner, a monopoly.Still, private miners continued to operate there and the federal government did not interfere, given the state's remote location and the low quality of its coal.Nearly all mines in Meghalaya use the rat-hole mining method. Workers, often children, go down hundreds of feet on bamboo ladders and dig out coal from narrow, horizontal seams. There are frequent accidents. It also pollutes water bodies and kills fish.Impulse Social Enterprises, a non-profit that filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal that led to the ban, said 10,000 to 15,000 people were believed to have died in rat holes between 2007 and 2014 in Meghalaya.P.B.O. Warjri, Meghalaya's top bureaucrat, acknowledged workers had died in mining accidents. He did not say what steps the government had taken.Despite the NGT’s ban, some mines continue to operate.A visit in September to Sutnga village in the state’s main mining area showed cranes lifting coal out from a rat hole, while men filled two trucks for transport.Sangma told Reuters he will act against anybody found violating the court order.(Reuters)
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