President Ram Nath Kovind has promulgated an ordinance cleared by the Union Cabinet to ease auction of coal mines and allow foreign direct investment in the sector, the government said on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Cabinet approved the promulgation of Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 in an attempt to attract investments in coal mining.
The ordinance allows coal mining by any company present in sectors other than steel and power, and does away with the captive end-use criteria.
A gazette notification dated January 10 said: “Parliament is not in session and the President is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action.”
In a separate statement, the government said on Saturday that the amendment in the law will enhance ease of doing business and democratise the coal mining sector. It said the changes will also promote FDI in the sector. They will attract “large investment in coal mining sector as restriction of end use has been dropped,” it said.
The ordinance provides for doing away with the requirement of previous approval in cases where the allocation of blocks was made by the central government. The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
{{/usCountry}}The ordinance provides for doing away with the requirement of previous approval in cases where the allocation of blocks was made by the central government. The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
{{/usCountry}}Briefing reporters about the Cabinet decision, coal minister Pralhad Joshi said that it will open up new areas of growth in coal and mining. He said demand for coal was growing.
Though India was the fourth-largest coal resources in the world, the country imported 235 million tonne of coal for ~ 1.71 lakh crore last fiscal, he said.