Adani Power bagged Jitpur mine in Jharkhand.
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal is credited with fast-tracking many issues that are caught in red-tape. The minister says the environment ministry's controversial policy barring mining in forest areas has left him troubled.
The states will get over Rs l lakh crore.
The PM-elect wants to fix the coal sector; cut coal imports by boosting output.
Dismissing allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh levelled by Team Anna, Coal Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal on Sunday said all decisions on allocation of coal blocks were taken with the consent of the state governments in a transparent manner.
JSPL, Tata Power, Monnet Power, Jindal Photo in the dock.
The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed down to a 4-month low of 8.1 per cent in September 2023 against 8.3 per cent a year ago, according to the official data released on Tuesday. The growth rate in the output of refinery products, fertiliser, cement and electricity during the month under review has decelerated, while it was negative in the case of crude oil. The previous low was in May, when the growth rate of these sectors stood at 5.2 per cent.
State behemoth Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, has failed to raise its output fast enough to meet demand, and millions of Indians still go without power.
Realistically, coal will be the major fuel for electricity generation in India, as in America, for a long time.
The government on Monday came under sharp attack on the issue of crucial files of Coal ministry going missing, with the Opposition alleging that it was a conspiracy to save Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam and demanding an impartial probe into it.
The first lot of 74 mines will be auctioned to specific end-users and allocated to state-owned entities by March.
The last year has seen public sector undertakings (PSUs) outperforming the Nifty50, albeit by a small degree. But PSU valuations are still, on average, less than half of private sector peers at price-to-equity or PE 8.7x for the Nifty PSU Index versus 20.9x for the Nifty50. There are several reasons for lower valuation.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday registered another preliminary enquiry in the alleged coal scam against unknown people for allocation of coal blocks to joint venture companies which included a private player.
Parliament in the Australian state of Queensland agreed on Tuesday that India's Adani Enterprises Ltd should be granted "all state government approvals" to build one of the world's biggest coal mines.
The government may offload a maximum of 10 per cent of its stake in the state-run firm. Currently, its holdings in CIL stands at 100 per cent.
The allocations followed two stages.
Stocks of public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been on fire in the past year as investors cheered an improvement in key operating metrics and embraced counters of these state-owned enterprises, analysts suggest. The S&P BSE PSU Index has gained over 90 per cent in the past year, rising much higher than the S&P BSE Sensex, which has rose nearly 19 per cent during this period, according to ACE Equity data. The BSE PSU Index, reports show, has delivered a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28 per cent (including dividends reinvestments) over five years and risen by almost 60 per cent in the past year.
The government will now auction 23 mines, instead of 24
With the case of missing files into the coal block allocation turning murkier, the CBI is mulling filing FIR on the issue for which officials of the agency and the coal ministry are likely to meet soon.
This is the first coal scam case in which the special court has delivered its judgement.
Production of eight infrastructure sectors rose at a three-month high of 7.4 per cent in December 2022 against 4.1 per cent in the same month of previous year on a better show by coal, fertiliser, steel, and electricity segments, according to the official data released on Tuesday. Crude oil output, however, contracted by 1.2 per cent in December last year. The production of eight key sectors rose by 5.7 per cent in November 2022.
The government on Friday issued fresh show cause notices to prior allottees of coal blocks like JSPL, JSW and Tata Steel, asking reasons behind delays in mines development and warned of deduction in their bank guarantees if they failed to furnish replies.
The sector may be overcrowded with a fair number of large players and the entry of the Adani Group through its two key acquisitions, followed by the takeover of majority stake in Sanghi Industries via Ambuja Cements. Since every major player is in expansion mode, there could be a capacity surplus and hence, price wars.
Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal warned that it would take years to alleviate coal supply shortages, which have reduced stocks at thermal power stations to their lowest since a huge blackout in 2012 cut off 620 million people.
Ministry seeks more active role by state governments to address issues.
At least 26 workers were killed and 50 others injured when a major fire engulfed a coal mine in China's north-eastern Liaoning province on Wednesday soon after a mild earthquake jolted the region, in one of the worst mine accidents in the country in recent years.
Gandhi claimed that Dalits, tribals, and Other Backward Classes were made bonded labourers and their participation was lacking in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
The Central Bureau of Investigation could question Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in connection with alleged irregularities in allocation of coal block to Hindalco as he had written a letter to the Coal Ministry after application of the Aditya Birla company was rejected in 2005.
Over 75 per cent of India's daily coal output has been hit as the five-day strike by workers of state-run miners entered the second day on Wednesday, raising fears of disruption in power supplies.
Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval, who sparked a controversy by telling the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation status report on Coalgate was not shared with the government, resigned on Tuesday from his post, the first head to roll on the issue.
Additional Solicitor General Haren Raval, who sparked a controversy by telling the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation status report on Coalgate was not shared with the government, resigned on Tuesday from his post, the first head to roll on the issue.
After a year and a half of investigation, the agency has failed to name any public official involved in the scam.
In its draft report, the research agency has recommended linking the valuation of coal reserves to be put up for bidding to international prices.
The Centre has stopped allocating coal blocks to state governments till the Mines and Mineral (Development & Regulation) Act is implemented with the amendments.
India offers policy stability, transparency and consultative process of governance to incubate investment, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday as she invited investments in prospecting energy resources in the country. Stressing that there is a need for investments in coal, she said, "We need greater investments also to help in gasification of coal. I invite all of you to energetically participate in the (sixth round of commercial mines) auction processes which have been launched today and keep your options also further extended for greater extraction of minerals in India." During this 'Amrit Kaal', India needs all the basic minerals as the country is in the process of rapid growth, she added.
Last week, the Indian markets were all about coal. However, amidst the hype over the debut of Coal India Ltd (CIL) on domestic bourses, what was mostly overlooked was the brand new logo of the world's largest coal miner.
Almost all major metal and mining firms would be affected by the Supreme Court ruling canceling 214 coal blocks, but Naveen Jindal's JSPL and Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco would be among the worst hit, analysts said.
The group has earmarked over Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) to acquire coal mines in foreign countries.
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