5 of 25 cancelled blocks alloted to Coal India, JSPL

Five coal blocks with an estimated reserve of 3,155 million tonnes (MT) out of 25 cancelled so far have been re-allocated to Coal India Ltd (CIL), Jindal Steel and Power ( JSPL) and a consortium of public and private players, the government said yesterday (September 05, 2012). 'So far government have de-allocated 25 coal blocks allocated to various public and private sector companies,' Minister of State for Coal, Pratik Prakashbapu Patil said. Three of the de-allocated blocks -- Brahmini, Chichro Pastimal and East of Damagoria -- with reserves of 2,593MT were allocated to CIL in 2012 while Utkal B-1 with 228 MT reserves was given to JSPL in 2003, Patil said. The remaining one block -- Utkal A (along with Gopal Prasad block) with 333MT of coal was given jointly to CIL subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields, JSW Steel, Jindal Thermal, Jindal Stainless Steel and Shyam DRI in 2005, he said. In reply to another query, Mr Prakash said that no blocks were advertised for allocation after the Bill to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 was introduced in Parliament in 2008. 'The allocation of coal blocks to private companies made after 2008 is only on account of culmination of the process which was initiated prior to introduction of the Bill,' he added. The government has so far allocated a total of 195 coal blocks including 111 to private firms under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973. These include 51 in Jharkhand, 41 in Chhattisgarh, 33 in Odisha, 25 in Madhya Pradesh, 24 in Maharashtra, 19 in West Bengal and one each in Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh. On Wednesday (September 05, 2012), Coal India closed at Rs358.35, down by 0.49%, with a volume of 1.06 lakh shares on the BSE. Jindal Steel & Power closed at Rs336, down by 4.78%, with a volume of 4.26 lakh shares on the BSE.