The Government of India will revise the coal royalty rates after examining the recommendations of the study group of the Ministry of Coal. The study group, constituted by the ministry has already collected the views and comments of all the concerned stakeholders through questionnaires as well as direct meetings.
“The study group is presently analyzing various suggestions received from the stakeholders. The new royalty rates would be announced by the government after examining the recommendations of the study group,” Union minister of state for coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil told Rajya Sabha member Renubala Pradhan in a written reply.
The minister said under Section 9 (3) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act-1957, the Central government was empowered to amend the Second Schedule to the Act so as to enhance or reduce the rates of royalty on minerals including coal, once in three years as specified in Schedule-I of the said Act.
The rate of royalty on coal was last revised with effect from August 1, 2007. The revised royalty rate is applicable to all states including Orissa, the minister said.
In the last three years (2008-09 to 2010-11), the coal companies have paid royalty of Rs 15,745.70-crore to nine states including Orissa, the minister informed in his written reply.
While Jharkhand got a royalty of Rs 3,495.97 crore during the period, West Bengal got the least amount at Rs 28.30 crore.
Orissa recorded a coal royalty collection of Rs 2,571.66-crore during the period. While the state got Rs 762.14 crore in 2008-09, the amount increased to Rs 881.08 crore in 2009-10 and rose to Rs 928.44-crore in 2010-11, the minister said.
The royalty received by other coal bearing states during 2008-09 to 2010-11 are Maharashtra (Rs 1,515.78 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 2,950.68 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 2,827.28-crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 411.79 crore), Assam (Rs 80.83-crore) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs 1,863.41 crore), the minister added
Partners in Haldia Petro want early legal resolution of ownership issue
New York-based venture capitalist and founder of The Chatterjee Group (TCG), Mr Purnendu Chatterjee, and the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal Government is working out a common strategy to resolve the legal tangle over ownership issues in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL).
While the possibility of an out-of-court settlement is ruled out by both the partners, efforts are on to convince the Supreme Court to pass an early judgment on the issue. Sources in both the quarters confirmed that plans were afoot to jointly "appeal" before the apex court to expedite its judgment on the issue so as to ensure smooth operations of the standalone petrochem project.
The hearing on the petition filed by TCG was already over. The case was filed during the Left Front rule.
While details of the legal strategies are not known, sources told Business Line that unless the ownership issues were resolved, HPL could not approach either potential investors or financial institutions to raise resources for future growth as well as restructuring the ballooning debt-burden.
HPL has accumulated loss of nearly Rs 1,000 crore.
As part of the corrective steps, Ms Banerjee's government had successfully convinced the Centre to withdraw the import duty on naphtha, bringing home a savings of Rs 350 crore for HPL. Also Mr Chatterjee was allowed officiate as Chairman of the company, through a temporary arrangement. He was previously the Vice-Chairman of the joint venture company.
The steps, coupled with some improvement in market conditions, have helped the company to post a positive EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) in July as against a cash-loss in the first quarter of this fiscal.
"If the current trend persists, our cash-flow situation will improve substantially by September," a company source pointed out.
“The study group is presently analyzing various suggestions received from the stakeholders. The new royalty rates would be announced by the government after examining the recommendations of the study group,” Union minister of state for coal Pratik Prakashbapu Patil told Rajya Sabha member Renubala Pradhan in a written reply.
The minister said under Section 9 (3) of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act-1957, the Central government was empowered to amend the Second Schedule to the Act so as to enhance or reduce the rates of royalty on minerals including coal, once in three years as specified in Schedule-I of the said Act.
The rate of royalty on coal was last revised with effect from August 1, 2007. The revised royalty rate is applicable to all states including Orissa, the minister said.
In the last three years (2008-09 to 2010-11), the coal companies have paid royalty of Rs 15,745.70-crore to nine states including Orissa, the minister informed in his written reply.
While Jharkhand got a royalty of Rs 3,495.97 crore during the period, West Bengal got the least amount at Rs 28.30 crore.
Orissa recorded a coal royalty collection of Rs 2,571.66-crore during the period. While the state got Rs 762.14 crore in 2008-09, the amount increased to Rs 881.08 crore in 2009-10 and rose to Rs 928.44-crore in 2010-11, the minister said.
The royalty received by other coal bearing states during 2008-09 to 2010-11 are Maharashtra (Rs 1,515.78 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs 2,950.68 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 2,827.28-crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 411.79 crore), Assam (Rs 80.83-crore) and Andhra Pradesh (Rs 1,863.41 crore), the minister added
Partners in Haldia Petro want early legal resolution of ownership issue
New York-based venture capitalist and founder of The Chatterjee Group (TCG), Mr Purnendu Chatterjee, and the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal Government is working out a common strategy to resolve the legal tangle over ownership issues in Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd (HPL).
While the possibility of an out-of-court settlement is ruled out by both the partners, efforts are on to convince the Supreme Court to pass an early judgment on the issue. Sources in both the quarters confirmed that plans were afoot to jointly "appeal" before the apex court to expedite its judgment on the issue so as to ensure smooth operations of the standalone petrochem project.
The hearing on the petition filed by TCG was already over. The case was filed during the Left Front rule.
While details of the legal strategies are not known, sources told Business Line that unless the ownership issues were resolved, HPL could not approach either potential investors or financial institutions to raise resources for future growth as well as restructuring the ballooning debt-burden.
HPL has accumulated loss of nearly Rs 1,000 crore.
As part of the corrective steps, Ms Banerjee's government had successfully convinced the Centre to withdraw the import duty on naphtha, bringing home a savings of Rs 350 crore for HPL. Also Mr Chatterjee was allowed officiate as Chairman of the company, through a temporary arrangement. He was previously the Vice-Chairman of the joint venture company.
The steps, coupled with some improvement in market conditions, have helped the company to post a positive EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) in July as against a cash-loss in the first quarter of this fiscal.
"If the current trend persists, our cash-flow situation will improve substantially by September," a company source pointed out.
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