Will halt coal mining if Rs 1.4 lakh crore dues not cleared: Soren to Centre

RANCHI: In a stern warning to the Centre, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday said his govt would take tough measures, including taking a legal recourse and forcing public sector coal units operating out of the state to shut down their mining operations, if no sincere efforts were made to clear its coal-related dues.

Speaking at JMM's 53rd foundation day function in Dhanbad, Hemant said, "We have been getting step-brotherly treatment for centuries, and this has to stop now. If we take a tough step, then the whole country will plunge into darkness."

"Our coal-related dues are to the tune of Rs 1.36 lakh crore. Whenever we demanded our share, the Centre said there were no outstanding dues. Even their MPs from the state remain tight-lipped in Parliament," he alleged.

Hemant also revealed that Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy had asked him during their meeting last month to slash the price of land that needed to be acquired by coal companies for mining. "He told me that our rates are higher than other states and we must slash the rates. I refused and told him that if they were interested, they would have to acquire land at existing rates," he added.

The chief minister also announced that his govt would soon be launching a massive crackdown on the nexus of land sharks and government officials in shady land deals across the state. "All BDOs (block development officers) and COs (circle officers), who are hand-in-glove with the land sharks, will be arrested and put in jail, and would be removed from service," Soren warned.