SHILLONG: The state government has discussed the auction of already extracted coal with officials of Coal India Ltd via video conference.
The auction will take place shortly, an official source said on Wednesday.
An official with the mining and geology department said that the government will also discuss the matter with Metal Scrap and Trading Corporation (MSTC).
The meeting with Coal India Ltd discussed the need to have terms and conditions of auction, service charges, dispute resolution mechanism, number of lots per auction and others.
Earlier, the NGT committee had approved on a pilot basis auction of 2 lakh metric tons (MT) of coal out of the 32 lakh metric tons.
The break-up of the auction from different districts of the state are – East Jaintia Hills (75,000 MT), West Khasi Hills (50,000 MT), South West Khasi Hills (25,000 MT) and South Garo Hills (50,000 MT).
The government will set up temporary depot for the auction and strict environmental norms will be followed in every depot during the auction and transportation. The government will also ensure checks and balances like the presence of CIL officials and security measures like the QR code, hologram, fugitive ink and four copies of challans.
The government requested the NGT committee led by retired Justice BD Agarwal to hold a sitting via video conference to discuss the environmental issues.
The committee agreed to discuss the proposal for restoration of environment through and consideration of guidelines prepared for utilisation of Meghalaya Environment Protection and Restoration Fund (MEPRF).
