The Hindu : Business : Navratna status for CIL mooted

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 25, 2006

Business

Business

Navratna status for CIL mooted

Special Correspondent

Panel forecasts acute shortage of coal

NEW DELHI: An expert committee appointed by the Ministry of Coal to draw up a roadmap for modernization of the coal sector has recommended the grant of `Navratna' status to Coal India Ltd (CIL) to free it from the need to approach the government for approval of projects irrespective of their size.

The committee also suggested that CIL's subsidiaries be granted the status of mini-ratnas in whose case proposals involving capital expenditure above Rs. 500 crore alone would require the ministry's approval. The boards of these companies should be restructured with the induction of independent non-government directors.

Forecasting an acute shortage of coal in the first two years of the 11th plan, it recommended as a short term measure the annual import of 30-40 million tonnes of high-grade coal till 2011-12.

Briefing newspersons here on Thursday on the first part of its report presented to the Ministry, the Minister for Coal, Shibu Soren, said the expert panel has recommended a hike in the drilling capacity of state-owned Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Ltd. (CMPDIL) to 15 lakh metres annually from the current three lakh metres along with the creation of a revolving fund with a corpus of Rs. 500 crore.

"The fund would recover the outlays once the mining leases are granted on the reserves so proven. Such an enhancement in the capacity for detailed exploration could potentially add about 10 billion tonnes of coal to the proven category annually," Mr Soren quoted the report as saying.

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