By Our Correspondent
MUMBAI/BHUBANESWAR: Rating Agency, Crisil has predicted that after de-nationalisation of coal blocks, India’s import bill will be reduced largely. In fiscal 2020, India imported an estimated 180-190 million tonnes (MT) of non-coking coal costing over Rs 90,000 crore.
According to Crisil, commercial coal mining can help in reducing the annual import bill by nearly 50 per cent and India can save Rs 45,000 crore. India has one of the largest coal reserves in the world at 300 billion tonnes, yet it imports a fifth of its annual requirement. At present, two government-owned miners, Coal India and Singareni Collieries Company, produce over 90 per cent of the coal.
“Earlier, only captive consumers could commercially mine coal. However, the reforms initiative will lend a fillip to commercial coal mining because any private entity can now excavate on a revenue-sharing basis,” the Agency said. Others argued that once commercial mining picks up, independent thermal power plants and captive power plants can substitute their annual imports of 80-90 MT. However, 45-50 MT would continue to be imported by the thermal plants designed to operate only on such feedstock. He further said that incremental production from these mines will also help bridge the demand-supply gap and reduce imports over the medium term, they added.
Odisha being a foremost major mineral bearing State with deposits of coal, chromite, bauxite and iron ore has been enjoying the advantage of public sector mining by the OMC, NALCO, NTPC , MCL ,SAIL ,NINL.
The people in coal bearing areas of Angul-Taclcher , Sambalpur-Jharasuguda-Sundargarh have been the worst sufferers of the environmental degradation and displacement due to coal mining and power plants and in coming day the people of these areas will experience the private mining companies for mining of coal and power generation. The other mineral bearing districts such as Jajpur, Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj have been suffering in many ways and there has been no alternative sources of livelihood being developed for the locals of these area.
