After working out a compromise solution for coal mining in dense forest or "no-go" areas, the Pranab Mukherjee-led ministerial panel is expected to turn its attention on other factors hindering coal production . At its next meeting, the 12-member group of ministers can be expected to tackle issues such as production practices of coal companies, incentives for states, coal pricing and evacuation.
The need to address these issues takes on a degree of urgency on account of the nature of the compromise that has been agreed to on the issue of mining in dense forest areas. Under the compromise formula, the Cabinet will review a decision in case the Environment Ministry rejects a project proposal in a dense forest area.
It can override the Environment Ministry by giving a verbal order to clear the proposal. There is, therefore, a need to exhaust all other avenues of enhancing coal production or availability for infrastructure sectors such as power and steel. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has maintained "green hurdles" as the cause for shortfalls in production. Even though ministries like power have been supportive of the Coal Ministry, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has made it clear that coal shortages in power plants have predated the latest environmental guidelines cited by Jaiswal as the cause for shortages.
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has already raised three issues — evacuation of coal stocks from the pithead, production levels of Coal India’s existing blocks, and incentives for states. These issues have found some resonance within the ministerial panel. The Planning Commission has been pushing for a shift in production methods, from open cast mining to underground mining.
Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia has raised the issue of a depressed price for coal. Ramesh had earlier written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the piling up of pithead stocks. This would mean that even though the coal is being mined, it is not reaching the end user such as a power generating plant. The quantity of pit head stocks has been on the rise.
On April 1, 2011 there was 71 million tonnes of coal which was yet to be evacuated. This is a 11% from April 1, 2010, when pithead stocks accounted for 64 million tonnes of the year’s production. The Coal Ministry has held the railways responsible for the mounting stocks at the mine mouth.
According to the chairman railway Board only about 47% of coal is dispatched by rail, remaining coal is evacuated by road (30%), merry-go-round (20%) and belt and ropeway (3%). Ramesh is likely to raise this issue as pithead stocks account for of the annual production, and ensuring speedy evacuation could reduce the need to mine in dense forest areas. Another issue that the environment minister has raised relates to underproduction by Coal India, the country’s main coal producer and a public sector enterprise.
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