The progress of the coal mining projects of MCL were reviewed in the meeting and the bottlenecks coming up in the process of implementation were removed through common deliberation and common action points. Chief Secretary Sri Padhi requested the central team to treat State PSUs at par with Central PSUs in the matters of compensatory afforestation. The team was also requested to provide mines to State Govt for providing the coal to private sector industries operating in the State.
Replying to a media query after the meeting, Union Secretary Sri Swarup said that this exercise has been very fruitful and effective. The State and District administration have acted very proactively for development of MCL coal mine projects. He added, we had set the target for enhancing the production of MCL to 250 MT by the year 2020 in which Odisha would add substantially. Because of the cooperation from Odisha Govt, the production of coal in the country has also been enhanced and now our country is heading towards a ‘coal surplus country’. Sri Swarup also added that we have agreed in principle to provide mines to the State for commercial mining.
In another media query Chief Secretary Sri Padhi said that the MCL coal mine projects in the districts of Angul, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh have been first tracked and Govt would provide all help and assistance for their operation. He hoped that the production of coal from Odisha would increase substantially in coming years.
The major projects reviewed in the meeting included Ib-Valley Washery, Jagannath washery, Lajkura OC, Basundhara Washery, Jagannath OCP, Bhubaneswari OCP, Natraj Under Ground Mine, Hingula OCP, Kaniha OCP, Ananta OCP, Siarmal OCP and Lingaraj OCP. Mainly the issues relating to rehabilitation, providing employment to the land loosers, forest clearance, shifting of the village, CSR activities etc figured the meeting and were resolved. Principal Secretary Steel & Mines Sri R.K. Sharma and Principal Secretary Energy Sri Rajesh Verma present in the meeting raised the issues relating to allocation to coal blocks to OPTCL for power generation and approval of mining lease in respect of Monaharpur and Dipside coal blocks allotted to Odisha Coal & Power Limited. In principle decision was taken for grant of the mining lease.
Principal Secretary Forest & Environment Sri S.C. Mohapatra, Principal Secretary Revenue & Disaster Management Dr. Mona Sharma, Chairman MCL, Senior officers from concerned departments of both the State and Central Govt participated in deliberations.