Page 6 - Pralhad Joshi

Govt convenes all-party meeting on Dec 6 ahead of Parliament session

The government has convened an all-party meeting on December 6 to discuss the legislative business and important issues likely to be taken up during the winter session of Parliament. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi has sent out invitations to the floor leaders of political parties in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the meeting. "It is my pleasure to invite you for a meeting of floor leaders of political parties in Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha to discuss legislative business and important issues likely to be taken up in the ensuing winter session of Parliament," the invite read. "I would also like to seek your cooperation to ensure smooth functioning of both Houses. The meeting shall be held on Tuesday the 6th December, 2022 at 11.00 AM in Parliament Library Building, Parliament House, New Delhi," it said. The winter session of Parliament will commence from December 7 and continue till December 29 having 17 sittings spread over 23 days.

Coal minister asks ECL to ramp up production to 50 MT during current fiscal

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday directed the officers of the Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) to work for achieving the production target of 50 MT during the current fiscal to meet the energy requirement of the country, a statement said. In 2021-22, ECL produced 45 million tonnes (MT) of coal. On the second day of his two-day visit to the ECL areas, Joshi inaugurated several infrastructure projects that would help increase coal-loading capacity and control the pollution caused by coal production and dispatch, the statement said. Joshi also visited the View Point of Sonepur Bazari opencast project. He inspected the project and held a review meeting with officials. The minister also visited the underground coal mine in Jhanjhara, about 225 metres deep. At an annual production capacity of 3.5 MT, it is the most coal-producing underground mine in India, the statement said. Joshi is the first coal minister to visit the mine. There, he interacted with coal mine workers, besides ...

Winter session of Parliament to begin from December 7: Pralhad Joshi

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said the winter session of Parliament would begin from December 7 to 29. In a tweet, he said, "Winter Session 2022 of Parliament will commence from 7 December & continue till 29th December having 17 sittings spread over 23 days. Amid Amrit Kaal looking forward to discussions on Legislative Business & other items during the session. Looking forward for constructive debate." Joshi, who was in the city today as part of BJP's 'Parliament Pravas Yojana' condemned the attack on the residence of BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind here. "... I strongly condemn this attitude of the TRS and its goondaism and threatening the people's representative and even those who are supporting the BJP," he told reporters. He alleged that Telangana used to be a surplus state earlier, but it has become a 'debt-ridden' state now. "Some people like KCR, KTR, their families and some Ministers have become rich but the state and its people are getting ..

Focus is to capture, not halt, carbon emissions: Coal min Pralhad Joshi

'Both domestic exploration and buying stake in overseas mineral mines is on the agenda'

India started intense coal gasification drive to reduce emissions: Joshi

Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Tuesday said that India is committed towards meeting its obligation on climate change and has already started intense coal gasification drive involving public sector units and plantation to reduce carbon emissions. Climate change is also going to be one of the key agendas at G-20 of which India is assuming presidency from December 1. The minister, in an interview to PTI, said besides meeting its climate change commitment, India will also have to take care of its energy security and has to do a balancing act. "Whatever prime minister has given the commitment to the world that will definitely follow. For that we are going in a huge way for gasification where comparatively there will be less pollution. And also, we are going in a huge way for plantation," the minister said. The process of partially oxidizing coal with air, oxygen, steam or carbon dioxide to form syngas is called coal gasification. He said that to strengthen the technology on coal ...

'Greening' of coal: A peek into India's evolving stance towards emission

The war in Ukraine has forced India to review its plans to scale back the fuel in the overall energy mix

India to be self-sufficient in thermal coal output by FY25: Pralhad Joshi

Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday exuded confidence that the country would be largely self-sufficient in thermal coal production by the financial year 2024-25. "We will be largely self-sufficient in thermal coal production by 2024-25 and the country will not face any problem in the thermal energy sector," Joshi said while interacting with the media during the investors' conclave on 'opportunities in the coal sector'. He said that in the sixth phase, commercial auction is being conducted for 141 coal mines across the country, including 28 blocks of Madhya Pradesh. According to the minister, for the first time in the country's history, such a large number of coal blocks are being auctioned. He said that the government is expected to get a revenue of Rs 25,000 crore from this auction, while two lakh people will get employment after the start of production. Joshi appealed to the investors to actively participate in the coal mine auction. "We have made mine allocation rul

Coal demand yet to peak in India, dry fuel still plays a key role: Joshi

The Centre on Wednesday said that the demand for coal in India is still to reach its peak and the dry fuel will continue to play a key role in the energy mix till 2040 and beyond. Therefore, shift from coal will not happen in foreseeable future in the country, according to coal minister Pralhad Joshi. Joshi in his opening remarks, while chairing a meeting of Parliamentary Consultative Committee of the coal ministry, said that there is a push towards energy transition away from coal in the global world. "However, for India, coal, being an affordable source of energy, holds prime importance for meeting its energy needs being fuelled by rising economy," he said. Coal accounts for more than 51 per cent of India's primary energy requirement and around 73 per cent of power generation. During the meeting it was also informed by the coal ministry that although there are no immediate challenges of coal phase down, companies involved in coal mining will have to manage the closure of already

Centre encouraging mineral exploration in Northeast: Pralhad Joshi

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Monday that the Centre is making efforts to ensure that mineral resources are properly exploited in the northeast for the benefit of the region. He stated that the Union government is also examining the environmental implications of coal and oil exploration in the northeast. Talking to media persons in Chumoukedima district of Nagaland after the day-long 'Northeast Geology & Mining Ministers Conclave', he said efforts to encourage quarrying activities were being made across the country. "The Ministry of Mines is making continuous efforts to encourage mining activities pan India. Accordingly, to further encourage exploration activities in the mineral-rich northeast region, the first such conclave was held in Nagaland," he said. "The Centre is also keenly examining the environmental implications of coal and oil exploration in the region," the Union minister of mines and coal maintained. Joshi said that the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has ...

Coal import to be stopped by 2024, says Pralhad Joshi

Coal minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said that the import of dry fuel which has declined considerably will be stopped by 2024. Speaking at an event at the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India here to release a 'Compendium of Asset Accounts on Mineral and Energy Resources', the minister said commercial coal mine auction which was institutionalised by the present government has made the auctioning process totally transparent. Joshi also complemented CAG's office for bringing out the first ever compendium of asset account on mineral assets of the country. The minister said that the report presents comprehensive picture of the mineral resources spread across different states in the country. He said that the compendium will help in further strengthening sustainable mining process which is of great importance for ecology and future generation. Collating the information of the state asset accounts, the government accounting standards advisory board has prepared the ...

Import of thermal coal to stop by 2024-25, assures Pralhad Joshi

Union coal minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said that the country will stop import of thermal coal by 2024-25. Joshi was speaking at the 'Mincon 2022' Mines -Mineral-Metals event here. The minister expressed his concern that that the country has to import coal despite having adequate domestic resource of the fuel. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him that this substitute coal import has to stop. "We are working in that direction and I am assuring you that by 2024-25, the substitute coal that is thermal coal import, we are going to stop it," he said. Joshi said that the government is taking pro-industry initiatives. "There was a time, when those in power used to think that talking about industry, business and industrialists is kind of anti-poor. But, our government does not think like that, we think your businesses should run nicely and our policies should be good and the revenue from you will help in serving the poor. This is the firm belief of the government and we

Coal India subsidiaries need to achieve annual targets: Pralhad Joshi

Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said to meet the coal requirements of the country, it is necessary that all subsidiaries of Coal India Ltd (CIL) achieve their annual targets. Joshi visited Western Coalfields Ltd headquarters in Nagpur and attended various programmes, said a press release issued by WCL. Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) is one of the eight subsidiary companies of CIL, a central PSU. The minister also presided over a review meeting and took stock of the production, productivity and coal dispatch status of WCL, said the release. Chairman-cum-Managing Director of WCL Manoj Kumar briefed the minister on coal mining activities and assured the company would achieve the production target by the year-end. In order to meet the coal requirements of the country, it is necessary that all CIL subsidiaries achieve their annual targets, the release quoted Joshi as saying. He said to make the country self-reliant in the coal sector, it is necessary to strengthen the ...

CIL will achieve 1 bn tonne coal production target by FY26: Pralhad Joshi

CIL will achieve 1 billion tonne coal production target by 2025-26 as against the earlier timeline of 2023-24 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday. Coal India Ltd (CIL) accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal output. "Due to COVID our earlier target has been postponed. We will fulfil our dream of one billion tonne and we will be aatmanirbhar in thermal coal...By 2025-26, Coal India will produce one billion tonne," Joshi said on the sidelines of a function here. CIL was earlier eying 1 billion tonne coal production by 2023-24. Replying to a question, he said as far as thermal power plants are concerned, there is an average coal stock of 24 million tonne and day-to-day stock of the fossil fuel is adding. "Our plan is to keep at least 40 million tonne of coal as far as March 31 is concerned," he said. Coal output by CIL in current financial year is expected to be 700 MT and there would be additional output of 200 MT from othe

New AICC president will be remote control of Nehru family: Pralhad Joshi

Taking potshots at the election for AICC chief, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi stated on Saturday that no matter who becomes the President, he will be the remote control of Nehru family

Centre working on enhancing mines sector output in GDP to 2.5% by 2030

The Centre has taken various measures with regard to Ease of Doing Business to increase the contribution of mines and minerals sector towards the country's GDP to 2.5 per cent by 2030, Union Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Friday. He addressed a two-day National Conclave on Mining Ministers here to deliberate on the ambitious target. "The intention of this conclave is that we should in coming years up to 2030, under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, other than coal and petroleum, add 2.5 per cent to the GDP of the country. Now, other than these two -- coal and petroleum -- it is 0.9 per cent," he told reporters after the inaugural session. The Prime Minister has given the target of 2.5 per cent to be achieved by 2030, he said. "...we want to achieve it before 2030. For that, we have taken lot of measures as far as Ease of Doing Business is concerned and ease of investment is concerned," the Union minister said. Observing that the

17 mineral mines taken back from states over non-production: Pralhad Joshi

In March, Lok Sabha passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2021

190 major mineral blocks auctioned in seven years, says Pralhad Joshi

"Mineral exploration will be carried out without adverse environmental impact through enhanced use of drones and other latest technologies," he said.

Govt plans to auction 17 non-operational mines surrendered by PSUs: Joshi

The government plans to put on auction 17 mines surrendered by public sector undertakings which could not put the blocks into operation, Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday. The statement comes in the wake of the government making efforts to ramp up domestic coal production to ensure adequate availability of dry fuel to different sectors. "Just the-day-before yesterday (Sunday) I got 17 blocks back and they are very good blocks and I am putting them for auction now," Joshi said. Speaking during a conference on the Indian minerals and metals industry organised by NMDC and FICCI, the minister said many PSUs in the country in sectors like coal were sitting on big mines. The government decided to take away all those mines from the public sector undertakings which do not get into operation even after the lapse of five to six years and put them on sale. "I talked to the chief ministers and ministers of a few states and asked them the reasons for sitting on mines. These

India targets 900 million tonne coal production in FY23: Minister

With regards to commercial mining, coal minister Pralhad Joshi said 43 mines have been awarded during the last two years and that they will generate employment for nearly 32,000 people

Pralhad Joshi slams Derek O'Brien for calling parliament 'Gujarat Gymkhana'

Amid the ongoing monsoon session and adjournments in parliament, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi lambasted TMC leader Derek O'Brien for calling the parliament a 'Gujarat Gymkhana'