Start commercial coal mining, Says FICCI

BANGALORE: As coal shortage has led to power crisis in Karnataka.Trade body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has suggested that this gap can be filled by introducing commercial mining in the sector through competitive bidding.Speaking to media persons on Monday in the city, Harsh Mariwala, FICCI president said “The government should immediately implement the recommendations of the Ashok Chawla’s committee report which has looked into the issue of allocation of natural resources and suggested transparent mechanisms.” Sharing the current scenario of the coal sector, he said that the import of coal had grown from 53 million tonnes to 83 million tonnes in the last three years and last year alone accounted for `37,000 crores of purchase of coal.“There is huge potential in India and the ban in Karnataka will have an adverse impact on the sector and also the economy if commercial mining is not permitted,” he added.The ban in the state, he said, had made them seek coal from neighbouring Andra Pradesh and Goa.“More than 24 per cent of India’s steel production is dependent on iron ore from merchant mining companies in the state,” he shared and pointed out that 75 per cent of the state’s ore came from the Bellary-Hospet belt.He referred to their recommendations and said that an open, transparent and market-based mechanism could have avoided this situation in the state.Rajiv Kumar, general secretary FICCI said that the import of coal could rise to 200 million tonnes in the next 3-4 years.“Our port and railway facilities cannot accommodate this kind of volume,” he pointed out