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Journalism of Courage
The government on Tuesday allotted 38 coal blocks to Central and state public sector units including power majors NTPC Limited, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and steel giant SAIL.
The move comes on the heels of the auction of 33 coal blocks to private companies with the government garnering over Rs 2 lakh crore. While the Centre had originally earmarked 43 mines for PSUs, due to poor response for some mines the list was later pruned to 38 blocks, according to a coal ministry source.
The mines, for which the Centre received 107 applications, include both operational and ready-to-operate blocks. All the blocks allotted are for the power sector, barring one given to SAIL.
These 38 mines are part of the 204 coal blocks whose allocation has been cancelled by the Supreme Court in September after holding their allotment as illegal and arbitrary. Among the central sector PSUs, NTPC bagged the highest number of five mines.
Among the power generating companies of state governments, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd bagged eight blocks. Most of these blocks are located in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Orissa.
