Clearance to 216 Coal Blocks

Clearance to Coal Blocks 216
216 coal blocks with geological reserves of about 50 billion tonnes have been allocated to eligible public and private companies under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973. Of these, 24 coal blocks have been de-allocated. Of the de-allocated coal blocks, two coal blocks were re-allocated to eligible companies under the said Act. In view of above, the net allocated blocks are 194 with geological reserves of about 44.44 billion tonnes. This information was given by the Minister of State for Coal Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.

The Minister said that the responsibility of developing the coal block as per the prescribed guidelines and milestones rests entirely with the allocattee companies who are required to obtain the statutory clearances including forestery and environmental clearance for both mining as well as end-use project. It is informed that at the time of advertising the coal blocks for inviting applications from eligible companies, the Ministry of Coal places in its official Website at www.coal.nic.in all the relevant details of each coal block considered for allocation including the location of the coal block (longitudes and latitudes), estimated coal reserves, estimated coal grade etc. well in advance. Further the guidelines for allocation of coal blocks are also placed in the Website of Ministry of Coal. It is for the companies to exercise due diligence before making application for allocation of a particular coal block.