Assessing dues claim by J’khand govt: Coal PSU

The Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), a Jharkhand-based subsidiary of Coal India, on Friday said it’s assessing outstanding dues it owes to the Jharkhand government, which had recently warned of stopping coal supply if its dues were not cleared.

The Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), a Jharkhand-based subsidiary of Coal India, on Friday said it’s assessing outstanding dues it owes to the Jharkhand government, which had recently warned of stopping coal supply if its dues were not cleared.

Last week, chief minister Hemant Soren, in his closing remarks at the budget session of Jharkhand assembly on March 25, had said an amount of ₹1.36 lakh crore had been pending with central mining PSUs, including the CCL and the BCCL. (PTI)

Talking to reporters at the CCL headquarters here, its chairman-cum-managing director P M Prasad said district committees were formed under the chairmanship of deputy commissioners (DCs) to make the assessment.

“Committees are assessing the outstanding dues across eight districts where mining is being done. Area general managers of CCL are also part of the committee. Any action on payment of outstanding dues would be taken after the committees submit their report,” said Prasad.

Last week, chief minister Hemant Soren, in his closing remarks at the budget session of Jharkhand assembly on March 25, had said an amount of ₹1.36 lakh crore had been pending with central mining public sector units (PSUs), including the CCL and the BCCL, and warned that Jharkhand would stop coal supply if the central PSUs did not clear the state’s dues.

On the issue of violation of environmental clearance norms, the CM said none of the functional mines were defaulters on that front. “Around 5-6 firms that had complaints of violations in the past are presently non-operational,” he said.

‘All time high coal production in fiscal 2020-21’

Meanwhile, the CCL claimed it has shattered all its previous records to register highest ever performance in coal production and dispatch in financial year 2021-22. The company’s coal production stood at 68.85 million tonnes (MTs) while coal dispatch was 71.86 MTs during fiscal 2021-2022. These figures are the best registered by company since its inception, CMD Prasad said.