Mining gets Rs 4,044 cr FDI

The government has so far approved foreign direct investment (FDI) worth Rs 4,044 crore in the mining sector and granted 177 reconnaissance permits covering an area of 238,000 sq km.

Stating this at the parliamentary consultative committee meeting today, Minister of State for Coal Dasari Narayan Rao said a meeting of chief executives officers and vigilance chiefs of public sector coal companies had been convened tomorrow in Kolkata to evolve measures for ensuring coal supply to genuine consumers.

The meeting had been called in the light of allegations of corruption in coal supplies, said a ministry official.

The minister said despite Coal India Ltd (CIL) consistently meeting the production targets, the demand-supply gap had been increasing on account of growing demand for coal from the power sector and increased pressure on domestic supplies due to high prices of imported coal.

During the consultative committee meeting, Rao stressed the need for effective monitoring and streamlining vigilance administration to prevent malpractices and to improve the public perception of the coal sector.

The minister said a single-window mechanism would be introduced to ensure early approvals both for coal and mining projects. Rao said procedures and rules and regulations were being simplified to encourage private investments including FDI in the mining sector.

Production of coal would be increased through increased supply from existing mines, advancing production from new projects and speeding up the allocation of blocks for captive mining, he said.

"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also asked the ministry to enable the Geological Survey of India acquire advanced technologies to modernise its land, aerial and marine survey systems," he was quoted as saying.