Union Cabinet gives nod to new policy for use of de-mined land to develop energy infrastructure
India Today
The Union Cabinet gave its nod to using land allocated to coal mines that have completed their lives, for creating coal and energy infrastructure.
The government has green flagged the entry of the private sector to yet another avenue of coal mining in India. On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet cleared a policy move to use land allocated to coal mines that have completed their lives, for creating coal and energy infrastructure.
Top coal ministry sources told India Today TV that the key decision taken in the cabinet was to make the private sector eligible to be given de-coaled land on lease from public sector coal companies like Coal India. The source said that while large tracts are available for such activities in the first tranche, over 3200 hectares will be further made available.The source said that the government considered and cleared a proposal “for granting of the lease by land owing PSUs and coal companies to other CPSUs, state governments and private entities for the development of coal infrastructure and coal development activities without change in ownership.Sources in Coal India Ltd, the largest coal mining company in India, said that the central and state entities were already on the eligible list and under the coal bearing areas (acquisition and development) act, 1957, an opening has been made for the private sector.The move comes after the February 2018 decision of the Cabinet clearing the opening up of commercial coal mining for the private sector, which is considered the most ambitious coal sector reform since the nationalisation of this sector in 1973.
A coal ministry source said that most of this land being unlocked is in coal mining areas. Private players who have power plants in these areas used to face problems with setting up secondary facilities like conveyor belts or coal washing for the plant. With the Cabinet's nod, private power players can’t set up facilities."To ensure that the land is used for specific purposes, the cabinet clearance comes with a caveat. These lands leased out to private players cannot be used for developing infrastructure like a residential colony or industrial complex,” he said.
One of the key reasons why the government green flagged the policy is that the land tracts, which cannot be mined for coal, are prone to unauthorised encroachment. Also, coal companies that own the land have to keep spending money on maintenance and security.The ownership of land that is no longer suitable or economically viable for coal mining activities or those from which coal has been mined out/de-coaled will not change. Instead, they would only be leased out. That means private players would not become owners of the land.A government statement had said that state-owned coal companies, like Coal India Ltd (CIL) and its subsidiaries, will remain the owners of the land acquired under the CBA Act, and the policy allows only leasing of the land for the specified purposes.
The policy entails the deployment of private capital in joint projects for coal and energy-related infrastructure by the state coal companies.
As per the policy cleared by the cabinet, any leased out land will be considered for activities such as setting up coal washeries, conveyor systems, establishing coal-handling plants, constructing railway sidings, rehabilitation and resettlement of project-affected families due to acquisition of land under the CBA Act or other land acquisition law, setting up thermal and renewable power projects and setting up or providing for coal development-related infrastructure, including compensatory afforestation. The entities for leasing will be selected through a transparent, fair and competitive bid process and mechanism to achieve optimal value.The company that owns the land would lease out the land for only a specific period mandated by the policy for the establishment of various coal and energy-related infrastructure, without transfer of ownership from government companies.
A senior coal ministry official said, ”This will turn land, which is a mere financial liability, into a source of revenue generation and direct and indirect employment.”
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