The Ministry of Coal has asked the contractors of 204 blocks that face de-allocation to furnish permanent employees details and status of ownership of mining land area.

This is a follow-up action to the apex court order which said all coal blocks awarded between 1993 and 2010 should be de-allocated except the ones given to ultra mega power projects and two blocks of Steel Authority of India Ltd and NTPC Ltd.

In a letter sent to the companies which were allocated coal blocks, the Ministry said that all the information needs to be provided by October 7.

“Since it is a Supreme Court matter, priority may be accorded,” it said.

The Ministry has also sent a copy of the letter to Director General of Mine Safety, Coal Controller Organisation and Coal Mines Provident Fund Commissioner.

Meanwhile, Coal Ministry is also seeking legal view on the status of NTPC’s five coal blocks allocated during the period.

The Ministry has also decided to look into how the miners, that were allocated coal blocks for captive use, are handling the surplus. The case in point was Anil Ambani’s ultra mega power project in Sasan.

The Supreme Court, in its recent order, had referred to its August 25 observations where it had exempted 12 coal blocks allocated to ultra mega power projects.

This exemption was given because the Court felt that a transparent tariff-based bidding system has been followed for these allocations. However, this exemption came with a caveat that coal from such blocks can only be used for captive purposes of feeding the power plant.

The Ministry is also in the process of working out a mechanism for fresh allocation of blocks which would need to be done after March 31, 2015 to ensure continued supplies of the fuel.

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