Ficci Lauds Power Minister's Move To Address Coal-related Issues

Hailing Power Minister Piyush Goyal's move to address issues regarding availability and quality of coal, Ficci said steps like reducing coal for e-auction and streamlining environmental clearances with time-bound approvals would help increase supplies.

"While moves like reducing coal for e-auction could ramp up supplies in the short-term, streamlining the processes of environmental and forest clearances with time-bound approvals and ensuring better co-ordination with railways will help in increasing supplies in the medium-term," the industry body said.

Piyush Goyal had asked Coal India Ltd (CIL) to raise production from its mines and reduce the quantity of coal offered in e-auctions.
“CIL has played a critical role in meeting the growing coal needs of the country. However, the past few years have seen an increasing gap between the demand and supply of fuel leading to the present crisis in the power sector. Capacity building, technology interventions and new investments are required to reverse the current state of coal production," said Ficci.

Power generation has suffered as CIL has not been able to meet production targets due reasons like delay in approvals for new mines.