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.
Maiki South Mining Pvt Ltd has bagged the country's first lithium block in Chhattisgarh that was put up for sale, the government said on Monday. Meanwhile, the government cancelled the auction of 14 critical minerals that were on offer in the second round of auction. The Katghora lithium and rare earth elements (REE) block in Chhattisgarh was awarded to the company at an auction premium of 76.05 per cent.
At around 3 pm on Wednesday, India's daily peak power demand touched 220 gigawatts (Gw)-the highest daily peak ever in the history of the country. The ministry of power in its estimates had projected country's power demand to cross touch 220 Gw during the months of April-June. With a cooler April due to unseasonal rains, the peak shifted to May.
Moody's Ratings on Tuesday said India's growing water shortage can disrupt farm and industry sectors and is detrimental to the credit health of the sovereign as rising food inflation and decline in income may spark social unrest. It said decreases in water supply can disrupt agricultural production and industrial operations, resulting in inflation in food prices and hence can be detrimental to credit health of sectors that heavily consume water, such as coal power generators and steel-makers.
Amidst ongoing efforts towards dewatering the ill-fated Bansgarha mine of Central Coalfields Limited in Jharkhand in which 14 miners are trapped, the defence ministry has been requested to send naval divers to bolster the rescue operation.
The production growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to a six-month low of 7.8 per cent in November due to a decline in the output of crude oil and cement sectors. The growth rate in the production of coal, fertiliser, steel, and electricity also decreased during November this year. According to the data released by the government on Friday, the growth during the month under review, however, is higher than the 5.7 per cent recorded a year ago.
To tackle increasing demand, the Union Ministry of Power has urged central and state public-sector power-generating companies (gencos) and state power and energy departments to pick projects that are undergoing insolvency proceedings. The power ministry is looking at a quicker turnaround of these stressed power plants and enhancing power supply. Increasing demand is pushing states to scout for more power sources. "It is requested that state-owned gencos may be encouraged to participate in the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) of stressed power assets, which are of strategic and commercial significance to the capacity addition plans of the states concerned.
On a day he was promoted to the Cabinet rank, Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal promised bringing about revolutionary changes in his ministry aimed at fast-tracking the coal reforms process.
The strong message from the prime minister is of continuity of policies he considers right with strong emphasis on execution, points out T N C Rajagopalan.
PSUs will get direct allotment.
Proceedings in Rajya Sabha were repeatedly disrupted on Wednesday due to uproar over demand for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's resignation and missing coal files, on which the Bharatiya Janata Party targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The government has agreed to remove coal from the list of essential commodities in the Essential Commodities Act, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
There are allegations that the Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh govt is putting pressure on South Eastern Coalfields to not renew the contract with Sainik Mining whose promoter Rudra Sen Sindhu is the son-in-law of the late Sahib Singh Varma, a BJP leader and former chief minister of Delhi.
The fact that the government has no specific deadline to impose this policy was revealed through a response to an RTI application in February 2017.
The Central Bureua of Investigation sought a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the five convicted persons and imposition of heavy fine on the private firm.
Coal industry expert Sunjoy Joshi tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com that the NDA's e-auction of coal blocks will not solve the fundamental problems that dog the industry.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make himself available to the Central Bureau of Investigation in the coal-gate investigation if a formal request is made, Union minister Kamal Nath said on Sunday.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said to have been examined by Central Bureau of Investigation in the coal block allocation case relating to Hindalco but neither he nor the agency was willing to confirm it.
The Supreme Court verdict on mining royalty case will give a further jolt to the Indian mining industry and will have very large financial implications, as arrears may work out to the tune of more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore, industry players said on Wednesday. The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the power of states to levy tax on mineral rights and mineral-bearing land, and allowed them to seek refund of royalty from April 1, 2005 onwards. According to a senior mines ministry official, the verdict will have a very large financial impact on mining, steel, power and coal companies.
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.
Agency seeks details of the period when Sushilkumar Shinde headed the ministry
"We are in interactions with the Ministry of Steel for SAIL, we are in interactions with the Coal Ministry on Coal India. On BSNL also, we are in interaction with the IT and Communication Ministry."
This is the first coal scam case in which the special court has delivered its judgement.
Govt has allowed transfer of clearances granted to the previous allottees to new owners.
Former top bureaucrats have come out in support of ex-coal secretary P C Parakh, who has been named by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the coal blocks allocation scam, warning that harassment of honest officers will erode the government's credibility and stop senior officers from taking decisions.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
Many power firms, including NTPC -- the largest consumer of Coal India -- have refused to sign the supply pacts as they are opposed to certain clauses like minimum assured supply and the penalty to be paid by the state-owned coal producer, in case it fails to meet the commitment.
Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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.
Earlier this year, the Union Cabinet gave the management of state-run companies the freedom to decide on divesting their subsidiaries. However, the very next day a meeting was held at the top level of the Government of India, for the presentation of proposals for more autonomy for state-run companies. Interestingly, no chiefs of any of these companies were invited. It is a problem that will stare the government in the face with the state-owned banks too, as talks have again begun for inviting strategic investments in these companies.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday made a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha, accusing them of hurting investors' sentiment by repeatedly disrupting Parliament, triggering a war of words.
SC judges suspected a lack of objective criteria in the selection.
With a spate of clearances, including relief to companies facing delays in development of coal mines, the government is getting its act together.
The Ministry of Finance may seek the Union Cabinet's approval for the proposed 10 per cent stake sale in state-owned Coal India Ltd by the end of this month, a senior Coal Ministry official said
This follows an hour-long meeting Jaiswal had with Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh for resolving major issues hurting coal production.
Coal ministry says Sasan coal cannot be used for other plant.
Union minister for coal and mines Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced 15 per cent interim relief for coal miners and employees and said no collieries would be closed and no retrenchment would be made.
