Lok Sabha Question No. 495 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-01
Subject: Shortage of Coal
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Anto  Antony, Hanuman Beniwal, Sushil Kumar Singh, Ramesh Bidhuri

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.495 TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2021

## Shortage of Coal

## 495.  SHRI ANTO ANTONY:

SHRI HANUMAN BENIWAL: SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH: SHRI RAMESH BIDHURI:

## Will the Minister of Coal be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has noticed acute shortage of coal in various parts of the country;
- (b) if so, the details and reasons therefor along with shortage reported during the last six months, month-wise and State-wise;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to find permanent solution to said crisis and also ensure sufficient coal production in the country;
- (d)  whether  the  Government  is  going  to  import  coal  from  abroad  to  meet  the domestic demand and if so, the names of the countries and companies from where coal is being imported to meet the domestic demand; and
- (e) whether the Government has any plan to fully privatize the coal sector and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES

## (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) & (b): There is no shortage of coal in the country. Due to increased demand of power,  less  power  generation  by  imported  coal  based  power  plants  and  some interruption in supply of coal due to heavy rains, the coal stock at the power plants depleted to 7.2 MT (sufficient for 4 days) as on 8 th  October, 2021.  Subsequently with increased coal supplies,  the coal stock has started increasing and has now reached 16.74 MT (sufficient for 9 days) as on 25.11.2021.  Coal India Limited (CIL) has dispatched around 54 Million Tonnes (MT)  more coal during April - October'21 in comparison to the same period of last year. CIL has dispatched 291.72 MT coal during this period, against 237.75 MT during the same period of last fiscal. The coal  stock  at  CIL  pithead  was  40.23  MT  as  on  08.10.2021  and  32.30  MT  as  on 24.11.2021.

(c): The following action has also been taken by Government to further enhance the production of the coal in the country:

- i. Commercial  Auction  of  coal  on  revenue  share  mechanism: Auction  of commercial  mining  on  Revenue  Sharing  Mechanism  was  launched  on 18.06.2020  by  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister.  Under  this  scheme,  total  of  2 tranches have been successfully completed and third Tranche is currently under process. From these two tranches total of 28 coal mines have been successfully auctioned for which Vesting order have been signed for 27 coal mines.
- ii. Allowed sale of excess coal production : The Ministry of Coal has amended Mineral  Concession  Rules,  1960  with  a  view  to  allowing  sale  of  coal  or lignite, on payment of additional amount, by the lessee of a captive mine up to 50 percent of the total coal or lignite produced in a financial year, after meeting the requirement of the end use plant linked with the mine. Earlier this year, the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act had been amended  to  this  effect.  This  is  applicable  for  both  the  private  and  public sector captive mines. With this amendment, the Government has paved the way for  releasing  of  additional  coal  in  the  market  by  greater  utilization  of mining capacities of captive coal and lignite blocks, which were being only partly  utilized  owing  to  limited  production  of  coal  for  meeting  only  their captive needs.
- iii. Rolling auction : In order to expedite the process for conducting auction and to  carryout  more  rounds  of  auction  in  a  year,  a  mechanism  of  rolling auctions  of  coal  mines  has  been  planned.  Under  this  mechanism,  upon completion of the electronic auction process of a tranche, the next tranche of auction would be launched for following mines:
- a.  Mines  where  no  bid  or  only  single  bid  was  received  in  the  previous tranche of auction (except for those mines where Ministry of Coal decides to go for second attempt of auction)
5. b .New mines, if any, identified by Ministry of Coal

In  the  current  III  tranche  of  commercial  auction,  total  of  48  coal mines have been rolled over from the II tranche of mines.

- iv. Single  Window  Clearance : The  Union  government  has  already  launched Single Window Clearance portal on 11.01.2021 for the coal sector to speed up  the  operationalisation  of  coal  mines. It  is  an  unified  platform  that facilitates grant of clearances and approvals required for starting a coal mine in  India.  Now,  the  complete  process  shall  be  facilitated  through  Single Window Clearance Portal, which will map not only the relevant application formats, but also process flow for grant of approval or clearances.
- v. Coal  India  Ltd.  has  envisaged  a  coal  production  programme  of  one  Billion Tonne  from  CIL  mines  by  the  year  2023-24.   CIL  has  taken  the  following steps to achieve the target of augmentation of coal production capacity:
1. 15 Projects identified with a Capacity of about 160 MTPA (Million Tonnes per Annum) to be operated by Mine Developer cum Operator mode.
2. Capacity  addition  through  special  dispensation  in  Environment  Clearance under clause 7(ii) of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) 2006
3. CIL  has  taken  steps  to  upgrade  the  mechanized  coal  transportation  and loading system under 'First Mile Connectivity' projects.

(d): As  per  the  current  import  policy,  coal  is  kept  under  Open  General  License (OGL) and consumers are free to import coal from the source of their choice as per their contractual prices on payment of applicable duty. In view of limited domestic production of coking coal, coking coal will continue to be imported for use by the steel sector. Thermal power based on domestic coal may use imported coal up to 10%  for  blending  with  domestic  coal,  where  technically  feasible,  to  meet  the increased power demand in the country.

(e): No Sir.

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