On 25th Aug 2014 (Monday), India's Supreme Court ruled that all coal mining licences awarded between 1993 and 2010 are illegal and will now examine whether some or all 218 permits should be revoked. In the ruling, the high court said that successive governments gave rights to mine coal to state and private companies in a style that was “not fair and transparent” and without competitive bidding.
The court is also expected to rule on possible fines on firms currently holding those permits, most of which have not been developed, as mines in remote rural areas proved too costly to bring into operation.
But in the process of allocating those licences, India has become tangled in accusations of corruption and mishandling.In the past twenty years India has granted coal blocks to a range of companies in sectors such as power and steelmaking, partly to overcome fuel shortages stemming from its inefficient and state-dominated mining sector.
Coal dependent Odisha
India is one of the largest producers of coal in the world and more than half of its commercial energy needs are met by the fossil fuel. The coal-rich regions include huge swathes of eastern states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and pockets in the central and southern parts of the country.
Coal mines in Odisha are already reeling under regular protests by the local populations who are demanding compensations against the damages caused to their lifestyles due to mining activities. In Talcher area of Angul, there was a 3 days protest by locals that was brought under control after assurance by the management from the coal mining companies to compensate the people suitably. However, sources reports that still people are not happy and may go for protests soon.
Under such circumstances, state like Odisha that very much depends on the revenue for mining activities will go down for sure that will affect developmental activities in the state. This opinion by SC is definitely a headache for the naveen Patnaik government in Odisha.
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