Union coal secy, chief secy review coal projects

Ranchi: Union coal secretary Amrit Lal Meena on Wednesday met chief secretary Sukhdev Singh on the pending administrative approvals to the land for upcoming projects of the Coal India Limited and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). Senior officials said the meeting focussed on reviewing the status of land availability and acquisition of CIL’s upcoming and continuing projects. “The bottlenecks such as pending environment and forest clearances and approvals at the level of respective district administrations were discussed,” Samiran Dutta, the chairman-cum-managing director of Dhanbad-based Bharat Coking Coal Limited, told TOI. The focus on time-bound issuance of necessary clearance is aimed at ramping up the country’s coal production to meet its growing energy needs, sources said.Meena also met chief minister Hemant Soren at the latter’s residence. “It was a courtesy call,” the state public relations department said. In 2021, Soren had demanded Rs 8,226 cr from Union minister Prahlad Joshi as compensation for nearly 20,000 acres of land which were acquired between 2009 and 2019 by the CIL subsidiaries. “There were no talks about this,” a CIL official claimed. Check out the Valentine Day 2025 , along with the Valentine’s Day Wishes and Messages.