Lok Sabha Question No. 1488 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-28
Subject: Captive Mines
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: M.K. Vishnu Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 1488

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2021

## CAPTIVE MINES

## 1488. DR. VISHNU PRASAD M.K.:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government is aware of the constraints faced by some PSU steel plants in view of non-availability of captive mines and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether  these  steel  plants  are  forced  to  buy  coal  from  open  market/import  from  other countries at an exorbitant cost , resulting in losses;
- (c) if so, the efforts being made to allocate captive mines to such plants;
- (d) the details of captive mines allocated on nomination basis to various steel plants in the country, steel plant-wise; and
- (e)  the  manner in  which present procedure of allocation of captive mines is different from earlier one?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a) & (b): Yes, sir. It is a fact that there is a shortage of coking coal used in steel plants and some  part  of  their  requirement  is  met  by  the  companies  from  imported  coking  coal. Steel plants  require  low  ash  content  of  coal  for  their  sustainability  with  respect  to  technoeconomics  as  well  as  environmental  aspects.  The  overall  availability  of  coking  coal  from indigenous sources is inadequate to meet the requirement of steel plants. The ash content in unwashed indigenous coking coal is typically in the range of 22-35% whereas technological requirement of ash content in coking coal for use in steel plants is normally about 10-12%. High ash indigenous coking coal is  washed in  coal  washeries  to  reduce  ash  content.  Even after washing, indigenous coking coal typically contains about 18-20% ash.

(c) & (d): Six coal mines were allocated to PSU steel plants. Details of these mines are given below:

|    | S.No.Name of coal mine   | State in which mine is Located   | Allottee   | Remarks                                                                                              |
|----|--------------------------|----------------------------------|------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  1 | Sitanala                 | Jharkhand                        | SAIL       | Allottee requested for surrender of mine. Allotment agreement/order was terminated in the year 2018. |
|  2 | Parbatpur-Central        | Jharkhand                        | SAIL       | Allottee requested for surrender of mine. Allotment agreement/order was terminated in the year 2019. |

|   3 | Rabodih OCP   | Jharkhand   | RINL   | Allotted on the request of Ministry of Steel/RINL under Rule 11(10) of Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Rules, 2014.   |
|-----|---------------|-------------|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|   4 | Chasnalla     | Jharkhand   | SAIL   | -                                                                                                                     |
|   5 | Jitpur        | Jharkhand   | SAIL   | -                                                                                                                     |
|   6 | Ramnagore     | West Bengal | SAIL   | -                                                                                                                     |

(e):  Earlier, coal  blocks  were  allotted  under  the  Coal  Mines  (Nationalisation)  Act,  1973 [CMN Act] through screening committee constituted for screening proposals for allocation of coal/lignite blocks for manufacture of iron/steel, captive production of power and production of  cement  in  the  public/private  sector. Now,  allocation  of  coal  mines  are  made  under  the provisions of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 [CMSP Act] and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 [MMDR Act]. Allocation is made through e-auction to public and private sector companies. Allocation to Government companies was made through allotment under CM(SP) Act, 2015 and MM(DR) Act, 1957. Recently, coal block allocation for commercial mining through auction has been introduced and the PSUs may participate in the auctions for coal block to meet their requirements.

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