Govt's stand on speedy re-allocation can ride roughshod over environmental laws: Greenpeace

The government’s attempt to speed up re-allocation making power shortage a pretext will once again result in running roughshod over environmental laws, Greenpeace said.

“The government’s response to the court attempts to paint a picture that all is well in the coal sector and now the blocks will be quickly auctioned. The SC has already deemed all coal block allocations illegal and has made it clear that it will not tolerate any further discrepancies. The NDA government will now need to follow a transparent and legally upright auction process to access coal and this is certainly a signal that they cannot further ignore forest rights and other important environmental legislations,” said Vinuta Gopal, climate and energy campaigner, Greenpeace India.    
 
She added: “This is certainly an end to cheap coal which skewed energy planning in India towards unsustainable and dirty coal-based power at the cost of crores of public money.”

With the Supreme Court scrapping all coal block allocations since 1993 terming the process as illegal, the government on Monday urged the apex court to not cancel all allocations since it will lead to a power crisis in the nation.

The government through Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the top court to spare some 46 blocks out of 218 blocks which it termed illegal, since it is needed for power given the critical power situation in the country.

Urging the court to take quick decision on the matter AG also said that the government is open to re-auctioning the coal blocks if their allocations are revoked.

Earlier, Coal & Power Minister Piyush Goyal had welcomed the Supreme Court verdict which quashed all coal block allocations from 1993.

Reacting on the issue, Goyal told reporters that the verdict will not only put the dispute to rest but will also boost the economy as well. He said, "The judgement has brought to finality and closure a dispute that has been going on for such a long time is a big plus for the economy."

Goyal asserted that the SC verdict has virtually sealed the policy of his Government on bringing clarity and transparency in policy for which PM Narendra Modi is famous.

The top court on Aug 25 quashed all allocations of coal blocks since 1993, delivering a historic judgement on the coal scam after hearing petitions seeking the scrapping of allocations.

The top Court has nullified all allocations whether through screening committee or through other means that took place till 2009 terming them as illegal and arbitrary. 

The top court also suggested to set up a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine what should be done for the re-allocation of these coal blocks.

The coal scam had sprung into headlines after the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report on coal block allocation estimated a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the national exchequer owing to irregular allocations.

The CAG named 25 private companies as beneficiaries of coal block allocations in various states. They included companies like Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Power, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.

The allocations date back to the time when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was holding the portfolio.