CIL TO ENSURE ADEQUATE SUPPLY TO POWER PLANTS

CIL DIRECTED TO ENSURE ADEQUATE SUPPLY TO POWER PLANTS

The government is quite concerned about the availability of coal to power plants and taking a serious note of the situation, Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (I/C) for power, coal and new and renewable energy, has instructed Coal India to ensure adequate availability of coal to plants. The ministry has also constituted an inter-ministerial sub-group comprising officials of ministry of power, coal and railways so that operational decision will be taken and coal supply will be improved to the plants.

To improve the supply situation, CIL has offered a scheme of drawing of coal under fuel supply agreements (FSAs) to all power generators on “as is where is” basis. For this generators will have to make their own evacuation arrangements and this scheme has been extended for FY15. In addition to this CIL has also offered 1 MT of coal from coal plus mines of Western Coalfields through MOU to extend the scheme to NTPC’s plants that are facing critical stock issues.

EIA NOTIFIES TO BRING TRANSPARENCY IN MINING PROJECTS

The government has notified Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notifi cation 2006 to bring transparency in---- environmental clearances of mining projects. As per this notifi cation, timelines for the clearances have been prescribed and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) will work accordingly. As per the Minister of State for mines, steel and labour & employment Vishnudeo Sai’s written reply in Lok Sabha, the EAC will convey the terms of references (TOR) to the project proponent within 60 days of receipts of application and thereafter project proponent will comply with the TOR involving collection of data, approved mind plan etc. and submission of final EIA and environment management plan report to the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

After this the project will be appraised by EAC within 60 days in a transparent manner and proponent will be invited to furnish necessary information and clarification and ultimately ministry will take a final call on environment clearance.

NTPC TO SET UP 4000 MW PLANT IN TELANGANA

NTPC has agreed to set up a brownfield 4000 MW power generation plant at Ramagundam, adjacent to their existing units as an expansion unit dedicated to Telangana. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has assured NTPC CMD Dr Arup Roy Choudhury that the required coal linkage for NTPC plant will be taken up by the Telangana government with Government of India. Rao has also agreed to provide the required land in toto either from out of the available land or by acquiring from Singareni. Telangana government will undertake filling the mines with ash. NTPC CMD said that the work at the unit will commence immediately and first unit will be completed within 39 months.

REFORMS IN THE APMC ACT PROPOSED TO STATES

In a bid to improve the delivery mechanism of agriculture produce from farmers to ultimate consumer and thereby controlling the price rise of food items in a comprehensive manner, the Ministry of Agriculture has adopted the report of the Committee of State Ministers on Agriculture Marketing. The Committee was constituted by the ministry to look into the legal framework present in the marketing and delivery of agriculture produce. In its proposals, the committee has recommended comprehensive reforms in agriculture marketing sector, including amendment of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts of the states in line with the model Act. The recommendations include various changes in the model Act, including: 1.Substitution of present system of licensing of trader and commission agents with a modern and progressive system of registration in a transparent manner 2. Provision of setting up of private wholesale markets and terminal market complex for smooth development of infrastructure 3. To promote private sector investment in wholesale and TMC market, a unified single registration is proposed 4. Distinction between genuine service providers and black marketers or hoarders to encourage investment and better service delivery to the farmers 5. There should be a stable and long term national policy on storage and movement of agricultural produce to achieve the objective of a unified