Holding the Supreme Court in greatest respect, apex industry body ASSOCHAM today said that its ruling, though, cancelling 214 coal blocks including those which are operational or are on the verge of getting operational is a bit harsh.
"Our main concern is on the kind of negative impact on the economy which has just been showing signs of recovery after over two years of slowdown," said Rana Kapoor, President of ASSOCHAM.
"Being largely dependent on the thermal power coal fires the economic growth. It will now be halted, besides, the dependence on coal imports will increase," he added.
The ASSOCHAM chief also expressed hope that the government gets about announcing new system of allocation of coal blocks with great speed.
The apex court pronounced its verdict today of quashing the allocation of 214 of 218 coal blocks allotted between 1993 and 2010 this afternoon on coal blocks in which government had claimed that Rs two lakh crore investments have been made.