A timeline of India's troubled coal sector - Hindustan Times

The Supreme Court ruled on August 25 that all coal block allocations made by the government between 1993 and 2009 were illegal. Here is a look at the key events in the sector ahead of the SC ruling on Wednesday.

1972-76

• Coal India Limited (CIL) set up as a state-owned company


• Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Amendment Act, 1976 enacted


• Mining leases to all private firms, except iron steel producers, terminated


• Iron and steel producers allowed to carry on coal mining for captive use

1992

• Coal ministry sets up Screening Committee to consider coal mining applications from private companies

1993

• Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1976 amended to allow power, in addition to iron and steel, companies to carry out captive coal mining


• Screening committee guidelines give preference to large projects of power and steel companies


• Blocks allocated on a first-come-first-served basis

1996

• Cement sector allowed carry out captive coal mining

2005

• Expert committee under TL Sankar, chairman, Energy Group Administrative Staff College, submits coal sector reform roadmap to Prime Minister

2006

• Government allows 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in captive coal mining in power, iron and steel, and cement sectors

August 2012

• Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in Parliament estimating that by not auctioning coal blocks, the government may have handed out a windfall of about Rs. 1.86 lakh crore to private power companies


• BJP steps up pressure on the government demanding the PM’s resignation


• PM Manmohan Singh states CAG’s observations are clearly disputable.

September 2012

• As an inter-ministerial group (IMG) begins review of coal blocks hit by delays


• CBI carries out raids across 10 cities and books five firms


• SC begins monitoring the CBI probe into the coal field allocations

March 2013

• SC asks CBI director Ranjit Sinha not to share details of its investigation with the government.

April 2013

• Parliamentary standing committee says allocations between 1993 and 2008 done arbitrarily


• CBI director Ranjit Sinha admits that the investigation report was shared with the then law minister Ashwani Kumar

May 2013

• Ashwani Kumar resigns

April 2014

• Former Coal Secretary PC Parakh says in his book that the authority of PM Manmohan Singh was undermined by former coal ministers Sibu Soren and Dasari Narayan Rao

July 2014

• SC sets up a special CBI court to try all coal field allocation cases.

August 2014

• SC says all coal blocks since have been allocated illegally and arbitrarily since 1993

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