Ajoy K Das

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Ajoy K Das

CIL coal washery project delays attract Coal Ministry flak

25th February 2019 tate-run Coal India Limited’s (CIL’s) ambitious plans of ramping up coal washing capacity has been hit by time overruns. The delays in operationalising various coal washery projects has attracted criticism from the Coal Ministry at a recently held review meeting, during which the Coal Secretary... →

Argentina to share lithium geological information with India, promote JVs for projects

20th February 2019 Argentina has offered to share lithium geological information for exploration with India as it aims to promote government-backed joint venture (JV) mining projects in the Latin American nation. The Geological and Mining Survey of Argentina would share geological information with its Indian... →

India relooks revenue sharing contracts for auction of oil, gas blocks

19th February 2019 The Indian government is having second thoughts over continuing with revenue sharing agreements in contracts with successful bidders at auction of oil and natural gas fields. While no decision has been taken yet, a section within the government is backing reverting to an earlier regime... →

India puts private coal mining on the backburner

19th February 2019 Opening up of the Indian coal sector for commercial mining by private miners has officially been put on the backburner. The move to open up commercial mining and auction off coal blocks to private miners for production without any end-use restrictions and a free pricing regime has been hanging... →

India hands over national oil company assets to private investors

14th February 2019 Finally overruling strident opposition, the Indian government has approved taking away smaller discovered oil and natural gas blocks of its national oil exploration and production (E&P) majors and allocating them to private investors through auctions. The move, criticised by a section in... →

CIL lines up capex for renewed thrust on developing CBM assets

12th February 2019 Seizing an opportunity offered by recently relaxed rules, State-run miner Coal India Limited (CIL) has lined up a corpus of around $422-million to kick-start its sputtering coalbed methane (CBM) projects. The renewed thrust of getting the CBM projects off the ground would be initiated by Bharat... →

Indian Power Ministry directs priority coal supplies to pithead plants ahead of summer

11th February 2019 The Indian Power Ministry has issued directives to its counterparts in the Coal Ministry and Indian Railways (IR) to give the highest priority to dry fuel supplies to pithead thermal power plants, in light of a trend of lower coal dispatching from Coal India Limited (CIL) and an expected summer... →

India’s Mines Ministry mulls bundled approvals ahead of new mine auctions

6th February 2019 India’s Mines Ministry is working on a proposal to bundle mandatory approvals, like forest, environment and pollution, for bidders of 288 mining leases slated to expire in March next year. According to a government official, putting together mandatory approvals prior to holding auctions would... →

HCL starts work on reopening copper mine, developing greenfield reserve

4th February 2019 Indian State-run Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), the country’s sole integrated copper producer, on Saturday started construction of a concentrator at its Rakha mines, marking efforts to restart the mines in the eastern state of Jharkhand. The ground-breaking ceremony at Rakha for construction of... →

India receives 145 bids for 25 small oil, natural gas fields at auction

31st January 2019 The second round of auction of 25 discovered small fields (DSF) in the Indian oil and natural gas sector has received 145 bids from 39 investors, including six foreign companies, the sector regulator has reported. The Directorate General for Hydrocarbons (DGH) states that domestic oil and natural... →

India's iron-ore output at 9-year high, but shortage looms next year

31st January 2019 India is poised to close the current financial year with iron-ore production of about 210-million tons, the highest in the last nine years, but domestic steel mills are still haunted by the spectre of a shortage of the raw material from next year. According to estimates from industry body, the... →

India permits women to work in underground coal mines

30th January 2019 India’s Labour Ministry has issued notifications amending rules that will now permit women to work in underground coal mines to ensure gender equality and open up greater job opportunities. The rules have been amended for women working in opencast coal mines too. Until now, women were permitted... →

India to look at mining agreements during Argentine President's visit

30th January 2019 India is preparing the groundwork to sign a slew of bilateral agreements with Argentina encompassing nuclear energy, and the mining of copper, lithium and cobalt during the visit of Argentine President Mauricio Marci, next month. The Argentine President will be leading a high-level business... →

Indian State-run JV to scout for overseas assets

28th January 2019 The Indian government has formally approved a joint venture (JV) of State-run mineral companies exclusively dedicated to acquiring strategic mineral assets overseas. Christened Khanij Bidesh India Limited (Kabil), the JV partners to pick up equity will include, National Aluminium Company Limited... →

Red flags raised over Coal Ministry's plans to liberalise capital coal mining

24th January 2019 Several government departments have raised red flags over the Coal Ministry’s proposal to liberalise captive coal mining in the country. The departments contend, in internal discussions, that the regulatory framework is not in place to support the Coal Ministry’s plans to permit captive coal... →

Indian govt pushes for import duty hikes on primary aluminium, scrap

24th January 2019 India’s Commerce Ministry is pushing for a hike in alumunium and aluminium scrap import duties in the forthcoming national Budget to offer protection to domestic producers reeling from a sharp spike in inward shipments of the non-ferrous metal. There have been numerous representations from... →

India’s SCCL firms up capex to spread operational hinterland

18th January 2019 India’s Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has drawn up plans for $1.40-billion capital expenditure over the next five years to extend its footprint beyond its traditional mining operations around the southern state of Telengana. The plan includes securing at least seven coal blocks in... →

India mulls bringing natural gas under single unified tax regime

18th January 2019 The Indian government has initiated moves to bring natural gas under the purview of Goods and Service Tax (GST) offering succor to a large number of gas-based power plants stranded by high-priced fuel. A Parliamentary committee on energy has batted in favour of including natural gas in the... →

India mulling higher iron-ore import duty

17th January 2019 The Indian government is mulling an increase in the iron-ore import duty to check rising inward shipments of the steel-making raw material even as domestic market faces a glut. Government sources said that various industry stakeholders, including miners and the government of mineral-rich... →

Trapped Indian miners presumed dead

15th January 2019 After more than a month, 15 illegal miners trapped in a coal mine in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya are presumed to be dead even though the Supreme Court monitoring rescue operations said that “hunt must continue as miracles do happen”. On December 13, 15 miners were trapped 370 ft... →

Foreign investors eye stake in IOC’s LNG terminal to be commissioned this month

14th January 2019 Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country’s largest oil refiner-marketer, will be willing to offer strategic equity stake to overseas investors in its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal ready for commissioning at the end of this month. IOC in a statement said that construction of the LNG... →

India fails to leverage DMF funds - report

9th January 2019 Funds created through the taxation of mining, to mitigate the social and environmental impact of extraction, are grossly under-utilised across Indian states, a Parliamentary report has found. Funds under the District Mineral Fund (DMF) in every district that has mining operations have been so... →

India’s plans for a natural gas trading hub in limbo

9th January 2019 Having missed the December deadline to establish a national gas trading hub, India is unlikely to push ahead with its plans in the immediate future without solving the vexed issue of unbundling operations of State-run natural gas infrastructure owner and marketer GAIL India. The Petroleum and... →

India to auction 105 blocks in current FY, but upcoming election casts uncertainties

21st December 2018 India will auction 105 mineral blocks before the end of the current financial year, the Mines Ministry informed Parliament on Thursday. According to information provided by the Mines Ministry, various state governments have completed the auction of 18 mineral blocks over the past nine months,... →

India likely to allow power plants to swap imported and domestic coal

21st December 2018 Pushing through further rationalisation of coal supply linkages, India’s Coal Ministry is working on permitting thermal power plant operators to swap imported transported to deep into the hinterland with domestic coal being transported to plants along the coast. The Coal Ministry has set up an... →

Northern Coalfields to hit 100Mt production in current FY

20th December 2018 Northern Coalfields Limited (NLC), the wholly-owned operational subsidiary of State-run Coal India Limited (CIL), will invest an additional $612-million over the next three months of current financial year to hit its 100-million-ton-a-year production target. Should it meet that target by the end... →

India’s Coal Ministry extends timelines for ongoing coal block auction

20th December 2018 India’s Coal Ministry has extended the timelines for various stages of auctioning 18 coal blocks that got underway on Wednesday and has also relaxed some terms and conditions for successful bidders. The auction of the coal blocks for users in steel, cement and captive power generation sectors... →

RINL to bid for iron-ore block to diversify raw material sourcing

19th December 2018 Indian state-run steel producer Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), which operates a 6.3-million-ton-a-year steel mill without any captive iron-ore asset, is planning to participate at auction of iron-ore blocks and at the same time diversify its raw material sourcing to reduce dependency on... →

India initiates moves toward freeing natural gas pricing

19th December 2018 The Indian government has started work on shifting from administered price for natural gas to a free pricing regime, but the process is to be spread out over three years. According to officials, NITI Aayog (National Institute for Transformation of India Commission) has already submitted a... →

India’s Nalco lines up $6.33bn expansion projects

18th December 2018 Indian State-run National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has lined up $3.52-billion investments on brownfield expansion and another estimated $2.81-billion on greenfield projects over the next few years. According to Nalco chairperson, T K Chand, the company is expecting to close the current... →

At least 13 illegal miners in north-eastern India feared killed

14th December 2018 At least 13 people have been trapped and feared to be killed while illegally mining coal in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya. According to preliminary reports received from government officials, the trapped miners may have been killed in the coal mine in the coal-rich Jantia hills. →

India’s new EV promotion policy focus shifts to component manufacturing

10th December 2018 The second stage of the Indian government’s policy for faster adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) will see a shift from offering financial incentives for purchasing EVs, to developing domestic lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacities and vehicle charging infrastructure across the country. →

Indian govt to mediate in NMDC, Karnataka spat over iron-ore mine

7th December 2018 In agreeing to mediate in the spat between State-run miner NMDC and the government of Karnataka over Donimalai iron-ore mine, the Steel Ministry has suggested that the Karnataka government does not invite a new miner to take control of the iron-ore mine. Officials said that the Steel Ministry... →

India approves bilateral agreement with Zimbabwe in mineral sector

7th December 2018 The Indian government on Thursday accorded ex-post ratification of a bi-lateral agreement between India and Zimbabwe for collaboration in mining, geology and mineral resources. According to an official statement issued by India’s Union Cabinet, the decision approved the memorandum of... →

India working on policy for FSRU LNG terminals at all major ports

6th December 2018 The Indian government will frame a policy to facilitate the construction of floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals at every major port in the country. The policy will lay down investment structure options for private investors so that there is a... →

Uncertainty about maximum permissible area undermining Odisha mineral auction plans

6th December 2018 Uncertainty over the maximum permissible area that can be granted for mining is undermining plans to hold fresh rounds of mineral block auctions in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The Odisha government is currently working to complete rounds of auction to allocate 16 mineral blocks in the... →

CCI dismisses complaints against Coal India

4th December 2018 The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has dismissed Hindustan Zinc Limited’s (HZL’s) complaint against State-run Coal India Limited (CIL) for alleged unfair trade practices in coal supplies. The Vedanta Resources subsidiary said in its complaint filed before the CCI that CIL and its... →

Goa counting the cost of iron-ore mine closures

4th December 2018 The government of the western Indian coastal state of Goa has estimated that it is losing $214-million a month in revenues, following the closure of all iron-ore mines since March. With neither the state, nor central government succeeding in ensuring resumption of mining operations by December,... →

India’s GEECL lines up $2bn shale gas investment over next decade

30th November 2018 India’s Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited (GEECL) will invest an estimated $2-billion to develop shale gas resources at its coal blocks at Raniganj, in the eastern state of West Bengal. According to a statement issued on Friday, GEECL expected to start initial shale gas exploration... →

Vedanta’s closed copper plant gets a lifeline

30th November 2018 Vedanta’s closed Sterlite copper plant at Tuticorin, southern India, has been thrown a life line with a committee appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) reporting that the closure of the plant was “unjustified” and “against principles of natural justice”. The NGT-appointed committee, in... →

Karnataka mine closure triggers conflicting claims on iron-ore supplies

30th November 2018 The closure of NMDC’s Donimalai iron-ore mine has triggered conflicting claims about supplies, with the industry saying there is a shortage, which gives rise to higher prices and imports, while the Karnataka government, for its part, has sought central intervention to tackle a glut in the... →

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