Coal India may surpass 1 billion tonne production target by 2020: Piyush Goyal
MoU between the government and Coal India on the same is likely to be signed shortly
On auctioning of coal linkages, Goyal said: "We have a committee which is exploring various options of what we should do with the linkages. We have not decided on particular course of action. Once the committee gives its report, we will take take a considered view in continuation of our effort to bring transparency and integrity in the whole system."
Refusing to give the deadline he said: "It is issue of very huge dimension. There are several states, which are involved which have coal linkages... I think a very detailed review and composite examination of all aspects should be taken, which the committee is doing." State-owned Coal India Ltd has been asked to auction annual coal quantities it sells to users like power plants, through a transparent process.
CIL will provide quantities to be offered in the so-called linkages, which are provided to bulk users, along with timelines of the auction, according to the minutes of a meeting held in the Coal Ministry. Government is now mulling auctioning coal linkages through the competitive bidding route and has recently constituted an inter-ministerial panel to look into various models to implement it, a move aimed at bringing greater transparency in the allotment of linkages.