By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR/TALCHER: The Narendra Modi led NDA-II was on Saturday went ahead its plan of brining a massive reforms in both Coal and Mining sectors to defeat the possible economic crisis in the view of the COVID-19 onslaught forcing the Country to a standstill for about 2 months till yet. Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan to support Indian economy in fight against COVID-19, the reforms were initiated.
As per the Finance Ministry, scheme will be implemented in States through Challenge mode for Industrial Cluster Upgradation of common infrastructure facilities and connectivity. Availability of Industrial Land/ Land Bank for promoting new investments and making information available on Industrial Information System (IIS) with GIS mapping. 3376 industrial parks/estates/SEZs in 5 lakh hectares mapped on Industrial Information System (IIS) .All industrial parks will be ranked in 2020-21. Policy Reforms – Introduction of Commercial Mining in Coal Sector Need to reduce import of substitutable coal and increase Self-reliance in coal production.
Government will introduce competition, transparency and private sector participationin the Coal Sector through : Revenue sharing mechanism instead of regime of fixed Rupee/tonne .Earlier, only captive consumers with end-use ownership could bid. Now, any party can bid for a coal block and sell in the open market. Entry norms will be liberalized. Nearly 50 blocks to be offered immediately. No eligibility conditions, only upfront payment with a ceiling.
Exploration-cum-production regime for partially explored blocks .Against earlier provision of auction of fully explored coal blocks, now even partially explored blocks to be auctioned. Will allow private sector participation in exploration. Production earlier than scheduled will be incentivized through rebate in revenue-share .Policy Reforms – Diversified Opportunities in Coal Sector – Investment of Rs 50,000 crores.
Coal Gasification / Liqueficationwill be incentivised through rebate in revenue share. Will result in significantly lower environment impact .Will assist India in switching to a gas-based economy Infrastructure development of Rs. 50,000 crores . For evacuation of enhanced CIL’s target of 1 billion tons coal production by 2023-24 plus coal production from private blocks. Includes Rs 18,000 cr worth of investment in mechanized transfer of coal (conveyor belts) from mines to railway sidings. This measure will also help reduce environmental impact .Policy Reforms –Liberalised Regime in Coal Sector Coal Bed Methane (CBM) extraction rights to be auctioned from Coal India Limited’s (CIL) coal mines.
Ease of doing business measures, such as Mining Plan simplification, will be taken. Mining Plan has been shortened, made amenable for loading online. To allow for automatic 40% increase in annual production. Concessions in commercial terms given to CIL’s consumers (relief worth Rs 5000 croffered) .Reserve price in auctions for non-power consumers reduced, credit terms eased, and lifting period enhanced. Structural reforms to boost growth, employment and bring state-of-the-art technology especially in exploration through: Introduction of a seamless composite exploration-cum-mining-cum-production regime.
500 mining blocks would be offered through an open and transparent auction process .Introduce Joint Auction of Bauxite and Coal mineral blocks to enhance Aluminum Industry’s competitiveness. Will help aluminium industry reduce electricity costs. Remove distinction between captive and noncaptive mines to allow transfer of mining leases and sale of surplus unused minerals, leading to better efficiency in mining and production. Ministry of Mines is in the process of developing Mineral Index for different minerals Rationalisation of stamp duty payable at the time of award of mining leases.
