Coal India’s union leaders say they have been assured by the government that the company’s exploration, planning and design arm will not be hived off.
They said the government is looking at the possibility of making National Minerals Exploration Trust (NMET) autonomous, and make it accessible to other explorers.
Union leaders earlier said they would oppose any plan to hive off Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDIL) and make its services available to private miners.
“We received verbal assurance from coal minister Pralhad Joshi that the plan will not be pursued. Trade unions were protesting against the move to separate CMPDIL from CIL,” D D Ramanandan, president of All India Coal Workers Federation, told ET.
“Coal India has formed an internal committee to look into the pros and cons of such move and we think the separation will be detrimental to the interest of CIL. The government may have realised it will weaken Coal India, which has been mandated to produce one billion tonnes of coal by 2024. The separation plan has been put on the backburner, the coal minister has assured us,” said B K Rai from Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh.
Coal India’s executives could not be contacted for comments on the development.
In a recent tweet, minister Joshi said he reviewed the structure and functioning of NMET along with its officials and deliberated on making it an autonomous body so that it is accessible to explorers for efficient utilisation of funds.
Source: Economic Times