Lok Sabha Question No. 805 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-23
Subject: Coal Bed Methane
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: SHARAD TRIPATHI

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.805 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 rd  JULY, 2018

## Coal Bed Methane

## 805. SHRI SHARAD TRIPATHI:

पेट्रोल ियम और प्राक ृ तिक

गैस मंत्री

## Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

- (a) the steps taken by the Government for the solution of issue of regulation of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) and for exploitation of this new source of energy;
- (b) the details of CBM blocks allocated to various companies in the fourth round of bidding, location-wise; and
- (c) whether the Government proposes to review its CBM policy and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

पेट्रोल ियम और प्राक ृ तिक गैस मंत्रािय में मंत्री ( प्रााप्र ामेर्मध ीी )

## MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a)  In  order  to  harness  CBM  potential  in  the  country,  the  Government  of  India formulated CBM Policy in 1997.  Till date 33 CBM Blocks have been awarded after four rounds of CBM bidding under the CBM Policy. Following steps have also been taken to expedite development of CBM blocks:-
- (i)  To increase the area under CBM exploration, Government has issued a notification in      November, 2015 and re-notified the same on 08.05.2018, allowing Coal India Limited and its subsidiaries to exploit CBM from the coal mining lease areas held by them.
- (ii)  On  08.02.2017,  Government  has  formulated  a  Model  Co-development Agreement for simultaneous coal mining and CBM operations in overlapping areas.
- (iii)  On  11.04.2017,  Government  has  issued  Policy  Framework  for  Early Monetization  of  CBM  providing  marketing  and  pricing  freedom  to  the contractors  of  CBM  blocks  to  sell  the  CBM  at  Arm's  Length  Price  in  the domestic market.
- (b) The details of CBM blocks allocated to various companies in the fourth round of bidding location-wise are as under:-
- (c) Government of India reviews its policies pertaining to oil and gas exploration  from  time  to  time  for  intensifying  exploration  activity  and  investment therein. In the year 2016, Government  has approved a new  policy called Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP). Under HELP unified license is  given  for  exploration  of  both  conventional  and  unconventional  oil  and  gas resources including CBM.

|   S. No. | Block Name         | State      | Operator                             |
|----------|--------------------|------------|--------------------------------------|
|        1 | AS-CBM-2008/IV     | Assam      | Dart Energy                          |
|        2 | MG-CBM- 2008/IV    | Tamil Nadu | Great Eastern Energy Company Limited |
|        3 | RM(E)-CBM- 2008/IV | Jharkhand  | Essar Oil and Gas Limited            |

|   4 | TL-CBM-2008/IV      | Odisha                        | Essar Oil and Gas Limited   |
|-----|---------------------|-------------------------------|-----------------------------|
|   5 | IB-CBM-2008/IV      | Odisha                        | Essar Oil and Gas Limited   |
|   6 | SP(NE)-CBM- 2008/IV | Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh | Essar Oil and Gas Limited   |
|   7 | ST-CBM-2008/IV      | Madhya Pradesh                | Dart Energy                 |