Govt to auction over 41 new coal blocks 'very shortly', says Prahlad Joshi

International News

The government plans to auction more than 41 new coal blocks "very shortly", Union minister Prahlad Joshi said on Wednesday.
He told the Lok Sabha that a number of important steps have been taken to augment and monitor coal dispatches to power plants.
In 2018-19, all commodities loading by the Indian Railways was 1,223.29 million tonnes, out of which coal loading was 605.82 MT, which is almost 50 per cent, the Coal and Mines minister said.
A committee, comprising coal and power secretaries, and Member (Traffic) of Railway Board reviews coal transportation and supply on a regular basis.
Responding to supplementary queries during the Question Hour, Joshi said, "we are going to auction more than 41 new coal blocks very shortly".

 He also said that coal production as well as demands are increasing in the country...Read More

Adani urges Australian govt to give 'a fair go' for coal mine project

Company News
Indian energy giant Adani has urged the Australian government to give its controversial coal mine project "a fair go" and indicated that the opposition party would not derail the proposed billion dollar project if it comes to power.

Gautam Adani-led Adani Group entered Australia in 2010 with the purchase of the greenfield Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin in central Queensland, and the Abbot Point port near Bowen in the north.

The massive coal mine in Queensland state has been a controversial topic, with the project expected to produce 2.3 billion tonnes of low-quality coal.

''All we're every asking for a fair go and to be treated like everyone else. I think at certain points, that has not been the case. We're certainly not whining about it. We just want to get on with it now. We want a fair go," Adani Mining chief executive officer Lucas Dow, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

He said the sort of scrutiny that the project was facing on the management plans was unprecedented.
The Adani project which still requires to clear few more approvals from the Queensland Government, including groundwater modelling, recently received the clearance from the federal government for development.

Commenting if the mine project could run any risk if the Labor Party comes to power, Dow said "I think (Federal Labor) has been crystal clear that if they are to form a government they won't be in the habit of creating sovereign risk by ripping up the existing approvals."


 He said that he was satisfied by recent assurances given by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and his Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen.