the goan I network
PANAJI
Close on the heels after the Centre allotted a coal block to Goa, the State government has written to the Centre expressing interest and urging it to sanction three more coal blocks in Odisha and Chattisgarh.
The Centre, it may be recalled, had recently allotted Goa a coal block in Dogrital-2, Sigruli district of Madhya Pradesh. Sources said, as other States have received more than one coal block as their share, Goa has also written to the Centre hoping that it will get more coal blocks.
Meanwhile, the Goa government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the central coal ministry on October 10 regarding the allotted coal block in Madhya Pradesh. The Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) is the nodal agency entrusted with the task of completing the process.
As per information, the coal mine allotted to Goa in Madhya Pradesh is around 1,400 hectares and comprises of Bazori, Digwah, Dongri and Bhaisanbuda villages in Sigruli coalfield area.
It may recalled that in 2009 Goa had been allocated coal blocks in Chhattisgarh area but after Supreme Court cancelled all allocation of coal blocks, the allocation of Goa’s coal block was also cancelled.
The Goa government at that time had allocated the work to produce energy to KSK company to start coal excavation work in Gare Palma Sector-2 of Chattisgarh. The company had spent around Rs 300 crores for the work that had been undertaken. However, the central government paid back this money to the company after the allocation of these coal blocks had been cancelled by the apex court.
As per previous contract Goa was supposed to get around 250 megawatt electricity. The Parliament had enacted the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 in March 2015 containing provisions enabling the government to allocate coal mines through auctions.
The law also permitted private players to mine coal for use in their own cement, steel, power or aluminium plants.
Presently, Goa has been allotted a coal mine in Madhya Pradesh. But, Goa in the past had never carried out any excavation work at the mines and had always taken power from the nearby grid.
The decision on allocating excavation work at the new coal mine is likely to be taken through a Cabinet meeting soon.
