Coal ministry questioned over CIL outsourcing

A Parliamentary Committee has questioned the coal ministry's rationale in allowing Coal India Ltd to outsource certain activities of production, even though its own men and machinery were being underutilised.

"The Committee would like to re-emphasise that outsourcing should not be resorted to while keeping the men and machinery underutilised," the Standing Committee on Coal and Steel said in its analysis of the ministry's action taken report on its recommendations.

It rejected the ministry's contention that through outsourcing, CIL endeavoured to maximise utilisation of existing staff and infrastructure, saying there was no improvement in utilisation of men and machinery.

The Committee also expressed its dismay, while observing that although the problem of land acquisition has often been cited as one of the reasons for lesser utilisation of heavy earth-moving machinery (HEMM), CIL frequently resorted to hiring of HEMM from outside.

The Committee said it was not convinced by the ministry's contention that outsourcing of various activities was preferred for better economic yield and cost effectiveness in mining operations to ensure enhanced production.

"The Committee takes strong exception to this misleading reply of the ministry of coal and CIL. The Committee is deeply distressed to note that the ministry has ignored its significant recommendation to chalk out a plan to minimise outsourcing," a note issued my the body said.

It reiterated that CIL should chalk out a plan to minimise outsourcing and ensure full capacity utilisation of men and machinery to bring down the cost of coal production.