Govt to allocate 81 coal blocks to PSU, pvt cos

New Delhi, May 18 (UNI) To meet the rising coal demand, the government today said it has identified 81 additional coal blocks with geological reserves of 20 billion tonnes for allocation to PSU and private companies.

Out of the total 81 blocks, 41 of them with reserves of 15.7 billion tonnes are earmarked for the power sector, an official statement said.

As many as 1,422 applications have been received for 38 blocks advertised for allocation through screening committee. These have been forwarded to the state governments and administrative ministries concerned for their recommendations, said Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayana Rao.

For allocation under government company dispensation route about 200 applications have been received for allocation of 27 blocks, he added.

''Comments on applications received for power sector have been obtained from the Ministry of Power and the matter is under consideration for approval of the Government. Further, the Ministry has also been requested to take further action for the remaining 16 coal blocks earmarked for the power projects to be set up on the basis of tariff based competitive bidding system,'' the minister added.

Elaborating the significance of coal to meet energy needs, Dr Rao said that out of the four major Indian fuel sources including oil, natural gas, coal and uranium, coal has the largest domestic reserves base with nearly 55 per cent of the total commercial energy needs met by coal.

He also informed the working Group on Coal and Lignite for XI Plan has projected the demand for coal to reach 731.10 million metric tonne (MMT) in the terminal year 2011-12 of the XI Plan.

This would further increase to 1,125 MMT by the end of XII Plan, the minisster added.

UNI