Coal ministry deallocates 61 blocks, Odisha hit too

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Jan 16, 2014 at 8:14 PM Updated On : Jan 16, 2014 at 8:15 PM

OST Bureau

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Pushed on the backfoot following the tough stance taken by the apex court over the non-transparent manner in which coal blocks have been allocated to various companies, the government has now decided to deallocate all captive coal blocks that have not received environmental and in-principle forest clearance so far and put at least 61 allocatees on notice, sources in the Coal Ministry said today.

Mandakini block allocated to Monnet Ispat and Energy, Jindal Photo and Tata Power, Rampia and Dipside of Rampia blocks to Sterlite Energy, GMR Energy, Lanco, ArcelorMittal, Reliance Energy and Nabbharat Power figure in the list of these 61 blocks, sources said, adding, Jindal Steel and Power’s 3 blocks — Utkal B1, Gare Palma IV/6 and Jitpur also part of the 61. Rohne, jointly allocated to JSW Steel and Bhushan Power and Steel, are also in the list.

The other top companies which face deallocation of coal blocks include ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel, Tata Power, Jindal Steel and Power, JSW Steel,Hindalco, Essar Power, Adani Power, GVK Power and Infrastructure, Ultratech Cement, Reliance Energy, Sterlite Energy and JP Associates.

In the letter to allocatees of 61 coal blocks, the Ministry has made it clear that besides the cases where environmental and forest clearances have not been obtained, coal blocks which are yet to get prospecting license or where PL has been issued but geological reports have not been prepared will face cancellation..

Sources said, coal blocks which have come under CBI probe like Mahan given to Essar Power and Hindalco, Brinda Sasai and Meral given to Abhijeet Infrastructure, Bander given to AMR Iron and Steel are also part of the list. Similarly, Fatehpur coal block, allocated to SKS Ispat & Power Ltd in which former Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay allegedly has a stake, are also a part of the list.

The allocatees have been given time till February 5 to get the requisite clearances and produce proofs in support of approvals, sources said.