Jharkhand suffers power jolt, loses coal block

June 17th, 2011 - 3:16 pm ICT by IANS  

Manmohan Singh Ranchi, June 17 (IANS) The union coal ministry has cancelled the allocation of a coal-block to Jharkhand as mining work at the block had not begun even five years after the allotment, an official said Friday.

The Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) was allocated the block in 2006 for its thermal power plants. The board failed to take necessary steps to extract coal from the allocated block.

The coal ministry had issued a notice to JSEB last year, wanting to know whether it was interested in the block.

Power Secretary S.K. Sathpathy said the state would request the central government to reconsider the decision.

Sources in the chief minister’s office said that Chief Minister Arjun Munda would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting a review of the cancellation.

Jharkhand produces just 20-30 percent of the total power requirements of the state.

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