Coal news and updates

Getting public consent is main hurdle to land acquisition: CII

November 25: Getting consent of 80% of the people affected by projects for developing coal blocks is a major pressure point in India even as the country has enough coal reserves, said V K Arora, Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)'s Mining and Construction Equipment Committee.

Speaking at an interactive session, Arora said the new Land Acquisition Bill has made it mandatory for a private entity or a private public partnership (PPP) project to conduct the social impact assessment (SIA) and environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies and this will further complicate the land acquisition process.

The SIA and EIA would help identify the families who would be affected because of land acquisition and the private entity or PPP will have to take consent of 80% or 70% of these people respectively to seek government approval to go ahead with the acquisition, he said.

"Giving monetary compensation to the affected people is easier for companies than gaining consent of 80% of these people. This, along with delay in obtaining the necessary licenses from the government, are leading to delay in coal mining projects these days, ultimately resulting in huge losses in production," Arora added.