Coal India suffered 116 MT production losses due to delays in execution of new projects: CAG

NEW DELHI: State-owned miner Coal India (CIL) endured 116 million tonnes (MT) production losses on account of delays in execution of new projects, as informed by government auditor CAG.

In its report on 'Allocation of Coal Blocks and Augmentation of Coal Production' tabled in Parliament today, CAG pointed that the delays ranging from one to 12 years in execution of 32 projects under different subsidiaries of CIL entailed loss of production by 115.95 MT.

The time lag related to “problems of land acquisition, forest clearance, adverse geo-mining condition, tender finalisation for equipment of and construction of Coal Handling Plant (CHP) and railway siding,” the report said.

CAG discovered that delays took place despite an expert committee emphasising way back in 2005 the need for setting up of a permanent special task force to monitor progress of clearances and project implementation of schemes to be completed by the end of XIth Five Year Plan (2007-12).

“In order to bridge the demand-supply gap of coal, new coal projects are required to be completed in a time bound manner,” the report added.