Govt. shelves Coal India restructuring plan

Govt. shelves Coal India restructuring plan The plan for restructuring Coal India Ltd (CIL), on which the government has already done some ground work, has been shelved for the time being, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal confirmed on Thursday.

Jaiswal said the government shelved the plan for the time being because at the moment there was no requirement for restructuring the miner.

Confirming the development, he said, "We might not restructure Coal India because as of now there is no requirement for restructuring the company. Coal India has given 290% dividend this year (2013-14) and government is happy."

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Asia Mining Congress.

The government had appointed global consultancy firm Deloitte to explore the scope of restructuring CIL on the recommendation of TL Shankar Committee. The government's decision to shelve the restructuring plan was announced just a few days after Deloitte submitted its report.

Several underground projects of Coal India are stuck on account of regulatory hurdles and environmental clearances. Speaking at the 5th International Mining, Exploration, Mineral Processing Technology, Metals & Machinery Exhibition, Rao pointed out that mining sector was facing more social, political, environmental and regulatory problems. He called attention to the rule that forces miners to obtain surface rights even for underground mining, where surface is not disturbed.

CIL is the world's biggest coal mining company. Coal production at the state-run miner is expected to reach 1,000 million tonnes (MT) by 2020.