Continuing scrutiny of coal blocks which failed to meet development timelines, the Inter-Ministerial Group on Thursday recommended de-allocation of two more mines, raising to 13 the number of blocks against which such recommendation has been made.
Country's largest iron ore producer NMDC on Wednesday said it is in talks to buy coking coal mines from Kolmar in Russia to feed its proposed steel plants in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
The CAG report had alleged the government had passed on financial gains of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to private companies by not auctioning the coal blocks.
Govt deallocates four blocks, more cancellations likely today.
The scheme, which was earlier implemented by the coal companies, has been extended for the current fiscal also.
The Indian Railways has decided to not cancel any more passenger trains to accommodate more freight traffic for coal transport. It will also gradually restore the ones it cancelled recently. The national transporter is of the view that coal supply is now reaching normative levels and does not need any more special measures. "Early data suggests that coal supply has stepped up since the passenger trains were cancelled.
The agency said files of the case were sent to competent authority.
The Union Government on Thursday said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and is one of the key components in EV batteries. "Geological Survey of India for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir," the ministry of mines said on Thursday.
Asserting that there is nothing wrong in allocation of coal blocks, former Union Coal Secretary Prakash Chandra Parakh on Wednesday said if the Central Bureau of Investigation considers a conspiracy in this case then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should be held equally responsible being the final decision maker.
Production of eight infrastructure sectors increased by 5.4 per cent in November against a 3.2 per cent growth in the same month last year on a better show by coal, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity segments, according to the official data released on Friday. Crude oil, natural gas and refinery products, however, recorded negative growth in November this year. The production growth of eight key sectors slowed down to 0.9 per cent in October.
The Indian steelmaker, which bought the Mozambique project with Australia-listed Riversdale Mining, sees the mine as essential in ensuring it has a sustainable supply of coking coal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to register more than one first information reports in the alleged irregularities in allocation of coal blocks after it came across several cases of violation of norms by state government officials and allottees.
Exports contracted by 2.6 per cent to $34.47 billion in September even as the country's merchandise trade deficit narrows to $19.37 billion during the month under review, according to the government data released on Friday. Easing commodity prices helped in cutting down the country's import bill by 15 per cent to $53.84 billion in September, the 10th consecutive month of decline. During April-September this fiscal, exports contracted by 8.77 per cent to $211.4 billion.
The coal ministry is likely to send the final list of files pertaining to coal blocks allocation which could not be located by Friday.
Jefferies, IIFL, and JM Financial - none of which were in the top five last year - have now claimed the top spots in the league tables for equity capital markets (ECM) during the first nine months of calendar year 2023 (CY23), a period characterised by small- and mid-sized transactions. This shift marks a significant change, with these firms outperforming the bulge-bracket investment banks. According to data provided by Refinitiv, Jefferies leads the domestic ECM market, having handled share sales worth $2.3 billion, representing 12.4 per cent of the total volume of $18.4 billion for ECM transactions.
In a veiled attack on ally Congress in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar on Sunday said the allegations of irregularities raised against him were aimed at diverting public attention from the coal-gate scam.
Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh.
A Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by senior leader L K Advani will meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday to discuss the coal scam. Advani will be accompanied by Murali Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and they are expected to apprise Mukherjee of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's role as coal minister between 2006 and 2009.
Global Steel Holdings, the holding company which controls the steel and associated businesses of the Ispat Group, has acquired two coal blocks in Mozambique. According to sources, the investment in the blocks would be in the region of Rs 460 crore (Rs 4.6 billion).
Senior Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Friday said he will participate in the party's protest programme in New Delhi on October 3, a day after he was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with the school jobs scam in Kolkata on the same day.
Letters for deallocation of 13 private coal blocks to their owners are likely to be sent soon after the law ministry gives its go-ahead, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said on Friday.
Sale at acquisition price may have been prompted by slow coal traffic and fall in prices.
The ministry has also noted the controversial proposal of opening up the coal sector and restructuring of CIL.
Uproar over coal block allocation issue paralysed proceedings of Parliament for the 12th consecutive day today, drowning most of the Monsoon Session which ends on Friday. As soon as Parliament met for the day, Bharatiya Janata Party members were on their feet in both Houses and raised slogans demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over the coal block allocation issue.
Despite high exposure of public sector banks to power, iron and steel sectors, analysts remain in a wait-and-watch mode.
Stepping up attack after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rejected CAG's observations on coal block allocation, BJP on Monday alleged that he was directly responsible for causing delay in amending laws on auction with the aim of bringing financial benefit to Congress.
Government wants to increase coal production so that it can meet the ever increasing coal demand.
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly murdered and her body was burnt in a coal furnace in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district, the police said on Thursday.
There was an acceptable domestic performance in India but there continues to be concerns about the Europe business and that overshadows the local performance. The consolidated revenues for the Q2FY24 stood at Rs 55,682 crore with an operating profit of Rs 4,315 crore and an operating profit margin of 8 per cent.
In the written complaint, the BJP MLA from Patna (Central), Nitin Navin alleged that the prime minister, in his capacity as the then coal minister, adopted wrong process to enable the people close to him to benefit from coal blocks allotment.
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