New Delhi, July 09: Domestic miners on Thursday said that the government should not consider competitive bidding of captive coal blocks as it may increase the price of the dry fuel.
The Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), a body representing domestic miners, submitted a memorandum to
coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal opposing the move to auction
coal blocks for captive use.
"According to FIMI, auctioning of coal blocks is illogical, as this would drive up the cost of coal in the country unnecessarily and may render the blocks economically unviable," FIMI Secretary General R K Sharma said in the memorandum.
The country should not target short-term gains by obtaining higher revenues through auction, the memorandum
said.
FIMI has suggested separating coal mining and
consumption, a world-wide practice. At present, state-run Coal
India Ltd mine coal for the majority of consumers.
Bureau Report
