The government on January 11, 2021 announced a single window clearance portal for commercial coal mining. This would enable successful bidders to get all mandatory clearances from a single portal. There will be no requirement to seek sanction from multiple authorities. Online approvals will expedite the process of getting the approvals. This will remove the roadblocks in the process of operationalisation of the coal blocks and will promote ease of doing business in India. The government has also announced a project monitoring unit (PMU) to assist the miners in getting clearances. The PMU will ensure that the bidding process is transparent.
At present, 19 major approvals are required from different departments in order to start coal mining in the country. These approvals or clearances include wildlife clearance, environment and forest clearances, safety clearances, and clearance pertaining to rehabilitation of project affected families along with other approvals. Companies have to go to different departments to get various clearances, which causes unnecessary delay. This process takes more than 2 to 3 years and it affects production.
Currently, coal meets 58 per cent of the primary energy requirement of the country and only 2 per cent of the requirement is met through renewable resources. Imported coal includes freight costs and is expensive. According to the coal ministry, commercialisation of domestic coal is necessary to reduce electricity prices. It will generate revenue and create employment opportunities.
The move, by making the system faster, is expected to create over 70,000 jobs and generate an annual revenue of Rs 6,500 crore for the states. This will make the coal sector one of the biggest contributors towards making India a $ 5 trillion economy.