The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has called a high powered meeting on May 16 to iron out issues regarding availability of coal in the country.
Apart from the Coal Minister, Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal, the Union Ministers of Power and Steel as well as the top officials of the Planning Commission will attend the meeting.
According to sources, the meeting will focus on improving the availability of coal so as to ensure the availability of power and steel in the country.
“While the Group of Ministers (GoM) is already deliberating on issues regarding the environmental and forest clearances impacting the growth of the coal mining sector, such factors may come up in the discussion with the Prime Minister,” a source told Business Line.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, however, will not be a part of the meeting.
According to sources, the “logistics constraints” in moving coal either from domestic or overseas sources to the consumer may feature in the discussion.
Business Line had recently reported that over 40,000 MW of new thermal power capacities could be stranded for the want of coal. The Union Power Ministry blames Coal India Ltd (CIL) for failing to achieve the promised production levels.
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