Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is stepping in to review the situation, and deal with the impediments that is facing coal and power production in the country. The shortfall in production will require the import of 114 million tonnes of coal in 2011-12.
The focus of the meeting, slated for Thursday, is to address the shortfall in production of coal and power. "The main agenda of the meeting is to discuss the problems facing coal, power and environment sectors. The growth of the coal sector over the last five years and performance in the current year will come up at the meeting. The Prime Minister has shown serious concern that the country's growth should not be hampered and at the same time, issues raised by the ministry of environment and forests are resolved," coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said.
Environmental concerns and its impact on coal production, and the constraints to adding coal-based generation capacity are likely to dominate the meeting. Read the full report here.
Source: Urmi A Goswami, ET Bureau, Economic Times, New Delhi.
