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PM says will quit public life if charges proved; Team Anna divided
The usually sober Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has openly declared that that he would quit public life if the charges on coal block allotments are proved. The statements come in reaction to allegations of Team Anna’s allegations of corruption against him.
“It is unfortunate that irresponsible allegations relating to irregularities in allocation of coal blocks are being made without confirming facts… I will give up my public life if allegations are proved against me. My long public career as finance minister, as leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha and now as prime minister has been an open book,” reports said quoting Singh.
Media reports recently stated that the Comptroller Auditor General’s draft report on the ‘Performance Audit of Coal Block and Allocations’ revealed that 155 coal blocks were allotted to private companies without auction between 2004 and 2009 which caused the exchequer a loss of Rs.10.7tn.The controversy has erupted as PM Manmohan Singh, who was in charge of the Coal Ministry for part of the period mentioned, is being targeted.
Meanwhile, Team Anna seems to be divided on the corruption charges surrounding the PM.Team member Prashant Bhushan has stuck to his allegations against the PM and has demanded a special investigation team to probe the charges against him and 14 other ministers.
“If the Prime Minister is serious about what he said, he should accept the offer of a special investigation team for probing the allegations we have made and 14 other ministers. We can't trust CBI with this probe, and in absence of Lokpal, we have suggested the committee,” reports said quoting Bhushan.On his comment of comparing prime minister to Shikhandi, he said: "I said that the Prime Minister's clean image is being used as a shield".
Coal India net profit at Rs. 40.13bn
Coal India Ltd. has reported a net profit of Rs. 40.13bn for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012 while the net sales stood at Rs. 194.19bn.
Employee cost stood at Rs. 9069 vs Rs. 4806 in the year-ago period.
Blended realisation stood at Rs. 1,518 per ton.
Offtake stood at 122.83 million tons vs 114.13 million tons YoY.
Tata Steel, NMDC postpone building steel plant in Chhattisgarh: reports
Koushik Chatterjee, chief financial officer, Tata Steel, has reportedly said that the company and NMDC would not be building a steel plant together in Chhattisgarh.
Reports stated that the MoU was signed between the then chairman-cum-managing director of NMDC, Rana Som and managing director of Tata Steel, Hemant Nerurkar.
Earlier Tata Steel and NMDC, in 2010, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to examine setting up of joint alliances in mines and steel plants, reports said.
Coal India: Coal Min, TCI to meet over legal action
The Coal Ministry will be meeting with the minority shareholder in Coal India, the Children’s Investment Fund (TCI) which had threatened legal action against CIL on various counts, reports said.
Hedge fund TCI, which holds ~2% in CIL, is the second largest shareholder in the company after the government and has investments in CIL through TCI Cyprus Holding Ltd and Talos Capital Ltd, which is registered in Ireland.
TCI has been irked with the government and says its “recent conduct with respect to CIL has seriously impaired business activities and operations of CIL,” reports said earlier.
Earlier reports stated that TCI was against the move of the Government to make Coal India sign fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with private power producers to supply coal to them at subsidized rates and guaranteeing to supply 80% of contracted quantity.The fund is angry about the reversal in prices Coal India adopted ‘blindly’ following the Government’s directive, which was a breach of its fiduciary duties towards shareholders.
Govt clarifies reports on coal block allotment during 2004-09
In Focus Stories
India to become 2nd largest steel producer by 2015: Govt
The Union Minister of Steel, Beni Prasad Verma has said that the Steel Industry in India which contributes over 2% to the GDP is expected to become the 2nd largest producer of crude steel in the world by 2015. Chairing the meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here yesterday, he said that Steel capacity in India has increased from 66 Mt in 2008-09 to 89 Mtpa in 2011-12. The functioning of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) was the agenda of the meeting.
Verma said that the per capita steel consumption has risen from 38 kg in 2005-06 to 55 kg in 2010-11. The Minister stressed on the importance of conserving iron ore resources in the country for long term use by the domestic steel industry. He said that major steel companies like SAIL and RINL are in midst of massive expansion plan to increase production of steel. He also informed that the expansion of Salem Steel Plant of SAIL and major packages of RINL expansion plan have been completed.
The Minister informed that for promotion of steel sector the following steps have been taken recently:-
National Steel Policy 2005 has been reviewed and the New ‘National Steel Vision’ will be finalized soon.
A roadmap on R&D and Technology has been prepared with focus on beneficiation, pelletization, coal ash reduction, etc.
New techno-economic bench marks have been evolved on International pattern for improvement in performance of PSUs.
Steel Innovation Committee has been formed in the Ministry for promotion of innovative ideas in steel sector.
NMDC is a Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Steel which is India`s largest iron ore producer presently producing about 27 Mt of iron ore. NMDC is also involved in exploration of wide range of minerals including gold, lime stone, dolomite, gypsum, diamond etc. NMDC has the only mechanized diamond mine in the country with a capacity of 1.00 lakh carats per annum at Panna, Madhya Pradesh.
The company is setting up a 3 MTPA capacity Steel Plant in Chhattisgarh and has signed a MoU with Russia’s third largest steelmaker, Severstal for a Greenfield Steel Plant in Karanataka. It has acquired 50% equity in Legacy Iron Ore Ltd., Australia.NMDC is also part of SAIL led Consortium, which won the status of ‘Preferred Bidder’ for mining exploration rights at Hajigak, Afghanistan, having reserves of around 1770 Million tonnes of iron ore. NMDC is a consistent profit making and dividend paying Navartna company. NMDC’s Net estimated Profit for the year 2011-12 is Rs. 7100 Crores, an increase of more than 9% over last year.
Domestic News
GVK receives key environmental approval for Alpha Coal and Rail Project
GVK, one of India’s major diversified infrastructure companies, has received the Queensland Coordinator General’s Report on the environmental clearance for the Alpha Coal and Rail Project in Queensland. The milestone is a major achievement for GVK and its Alpha Project is now the only Galilee Basin proponent with an approved Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
After having agreed general terms in December 2010, GVK invested in three mines (Alpha, Alpha West and Kevin’s Corner) with total resources of 8 billion tonnes of thermal coal in addition to the rail and port facilities.
Hindalco, RPower gain as EGoM clears 2 coal blocks
Hindalco Industries and Reliance Power gained on Thursday after an Empowered Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, said that the Mahan coal block and the Chhatrasal block should be given forest clearance, subject to certain conditions.
The Mahan block has been allocated to Hindalco and Essar group while the Chhatrasal block is attached to Reliance Power's Sasan UMPP.
The EGoM earlier recommended an in-principle approval for mining the Mahan coal block. The commissioning of this coal block would take at least 18 months.The Mahan coal block was jointly allocated to Essar Power and Hindalco in 2006. Hindalco has spent more than US$3bn on the associated expansion projects.
Gujarat NRE Coke's Aussie arm inducts Jindal Steel as strategic partner
Gujarat NRE Coking Coal Limited, (GNM or the Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Option Off Take agreement with Jindal Steel & Power Limited (Jindal) and would also make a placement of new shares in favour of Jindal Steel & Power (Mauritius) Ltd.
The shares would be issued by the Company under the 15 % placement limit available under Listing Rule 7.1. The placement is expected to be completed by 30th May 2012.
SAIL signs JV agreement with Burn Standard
NMDC Q4 net profit dips 22%
CBI commences investigation of coal block allocation charges
Neyveli Lignite to add 1000 MW to regional grid this year
SAIL Q4 net profit up 3%
Ess Dee Aluminium appoints Bijoy Kumar Pansari as MD
Coal Ministry says no need for arbitration with TCI
PM discusses recommendations on allocation of natural resources
TSAF enthusiasts from Jharkhand conquer Mt. Everest
MOIL wins PL for Manganese Ore in Maharashtra
Global News
Peru declares emergency over mine protest: report
Peru's government has declared a 30-day state of emergency in a highland province after reports stated that two people were killed and dozens of police officers injured in violent anti-mining protests.
Interior minister Wilver Calle stated that 30 police officers were hurt in clashes near Cuzco when protesters hit police with rocks and set fire to pasture, reports said.
There are reports that the protesters claim the Tinaya copper mine owned by Swiss-based Xstrata plc is contaminating local water supplies and sickening farm animals.