Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren sought from Coal India Limited (CIL) payment of ₹56,000 cr “dues” to the state government in lieu of land allotted to them for mining on Friday. The state government asked the PSU to make immediate payment in addition to payment of royalty on coal on ‘ad valorem’ basis when CIL Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) Pramod Agarwal called on the Chief Minister.
Jharkhand-based CIL arm Central Coalfields Ltd(CCL) Chairman cum Managing Director PM Prasad told PTI, “We have sought reconciliation of the amount of claims from the state government.” Prasad, who is also working as a chief for Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL), further added, “The demanded amount pertains to three of the Coal India arms- CCL, BCCL and Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) and CIL has put forward an application against the demanded amount appealing for reconciliation.” The CCL chief further stated that given CIL is a CPSU, they are sure of a positive response from the state government.
The PSU is the world’s largest coal miner and accounts for 80 percent of domestic dry-fuel production. The mining giant has been at loggerheads with the state for long over dues. In 2014, the state had called on Coal India Ltd for Rs 25,000 cr as ‘preliminary’ amount for coal mining in the state without any compensation to the state. Meanwhile, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren asked the CIL chairman to pay the compensation amount of Rs 56,000 by Coal India to the state in lieu of land allotted to CIL for various projects of mining in the state. Disappointed over the slow rehabilitation work on Jharia coal mines, Soren asked Agarwal to expedite rehabilitation work and take steps to extinguish fire there. The Coal India Chairman and Managing Director Pramod Agarwal did not respond to the repeated calls and queries in this matter.
If the PSU under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal has to pay the demanded amount to the state, it could lead to erosion of the cash reserves of the world’s largest coal miner that recommend a final dividend of Rs 3.50 per equity share of face value of Rs 10 each for the financial year 2020-21. The coal giant in June recorded a marginal 1.1 percent decrease in its consolidated profit at Rs 4,586.78 crore for the quarter ended March 2021 on the back of lower sales. The CIL production during the quarter declined to 203.42 million tonnes (MT) over 213.71 MT during the corresponding quarter in 2020. The company’s offtake during the January-March period was at 164.89 MT, over 164.33 in the corresponding quarter of 2020. The company has also targeted one billion tonnes of output by 2023-24.
Notably, Coal India Limited (CIL) is the largest coal-producing company in the world and also one of the largest corporate employers consisting of a workforce of nearly 272445 (as of 1st April,2020). CIL operates through its subsidiaries in 84 mining areas spread over 8 states of India including Jharkhand. CIL produces coal through seven of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. These are Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Central Coalfields Limited (CCL), Western Coalfields Limited (WCL), South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), Northern Coalfields Limited (NCL), and Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) and one mine planning and consultancy company that is Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI). Furthermore, CIL also has a foreign wholly-owned subsidiary in Mozambique named Coal India Africana Limitada (CIAL). The mines in Assam i.e., North Eastern Coalfields are supervised directly by CIL.
