State to frame policy for coal auction in a month

SHILLONG: The state government has sought one month to frame a policy to auction the already extracted coal.
This was conveyed by the government to the NGT panel headed by BP Katakey, who chaired a meeting in the city on Tuesday to discuss the matter.
Katakey said the state government will frame the policy regarding the auction of the coal, its transportation and setting up of weighbridge to transport the coal.
The next meeting of the committee with the government officials will be held on August 14 in Shillong instead of the July 26 meeting in Guwahati.
The Supreme Court had on July 3 directed the Katakey committee to monitor the process of auctioning of coal after lifting the NGT ban on coal mining in Meghalaya.
The Supreme Court had directed that after deducting its expenses for transportation with 10 per cent of price of the coal, the Coal India Ltd will remit the balance amount to the state and it is for the state, after deducting the royalty and payment to the environment fund and taxes, to pay back the balance amount to the land owners.
Cement and power plants
The NGT committee said none of the cement companies and power plants should use the local coal which has high sulphur content.
While restriction is put on Meghalaya Power Limited of the Star Cement to use local coal, other cement companies and thermal power plants are using the local coal.
Katakey said there should be restriction on the use of local coal by all the cement companies and thermal power plants and the Centre will take a decision regarding the matter soon.