COAL MINES (NATIONALISATION) AMENDMENT BILL 2000

THE COAL MINES (NATIONALISATION) AMENDMENT BILL, 2000

Bill No. XXVI of 2000

10th April, 2000

A BILL further to amend the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

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S.1 Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be called the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2000.

(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

S.2 Insertion of new section 1B

In the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), after section 1A, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—

“1B. (1) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the regulation and development of coal mines to the extent hereinafter provided in section 3A.

(2) The declaration contained in sub-section (1) is in addition to, and not in derogation of, the declarations contained in section 2 of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 and in section 1A of this Act.”.

S.3 Insertion of new section 3A

After section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—

“3A. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section 3 and on and from the commencement of the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2000, any person being—

(a) the Central Government or a Government company or a corporation owned, managed or controlled by the Central Government, or a State Government or any corporation owned, managed or controlled by the Central Government and a State Government; or
(b) a person to whom a sub-lease, referred to in the proviso to clause (c) of sub-section (3) of section 3 has been granted by any such Government, Government company or corporation; or
(c) a company,

may carry on coal mining operations in India, in any form either for own consumption, sale or for any other purpose in accordance with the prospecting licence or mining lease or sub-lease, as the case may be.

(2) The Central Government

S.4 Amendment of section 34

In section 34 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), after clause (a), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—

“(aa) the location of the coal mines, the minimum size of the coal mine and such other conditions which may be necessary for the purpose of coal mining operations by a company;”.

S.STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS

About sixty per cent. of the country's total energy requirement is met by coal. The coal-based power generation accounts for around seventy per cent. of the total power generation in India. The coal demand in the country is expected to increase several fold within the next few years on account of the burgeoning demand from the power, steel and cement sectors. The principal component of the demand for coal is the demand from the power sector and this depends upon the improvement in generation from existing thermal power stations and the new coal based thermal capacity which will be established. Keeping in view the estimated addition of the coal based thermal capacity in the country by the end of Tenth Plan, it is assessed that the demand supply gap of coal by the end of Tenth Plan would be around 235 million tonnes. It will not be possible for the nationalised coal companies and captive coal mining companies to bridge this huge gap. Import of coal to meet the emerging shortage is no

S.MEMORANDUM REGARDING DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Clause 3 of the Bill seeks to insert a new section 3A. Sub-section (2) of the said section empowers the Central Government to prescribe the location of the coal mines, minimum size of the coal mines and such other conditions which may be necessary for the purpose of the coal mining operations by a company.

2. These matters relate to matters of procedure and administrative details and it is not practicable to provide for them in the Bill itself. The delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character.

S.ANNEXURE

EXTRACT FROM THE COAL MINES (NATIONALISATION) ACT, 1973

(26 OF 1973)

34. (1)

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—