Maharashtra Govt issues strict guidelines to streamline the coal supply to small, medium & other enterprises

The Maharashtra Government has cracked the whip to curb scams and excess coal supply to small, medium and other enterprises. The government on Friday issued strict guidelines whereby it will be binding on a government-appointed agency to soon set up an e-portal to streamline the supply of 10,000 metric tonnes of coal annually received from Coal India to small, medium and other enterprises and also to put in place GPS networks to track its distribution done in a transparent manner.

The concerned units will have to use vehicles with GPS networks to take the delivery of coal from the assigned mines of the Coal India and Western Coalfields. The details in this regard will have to be regularly uploaded on the e portal.

The government’s move came in the wake of a series of representations about the irregularities in the coal supply to the eligible industrial units who have fulfilled the necessary administrative and procedural requirements.

The industry, energy and labour department joint secretary Sanjay Degaonkar in the government resolution said that the e-portal will have to upload information with regard to the allocation of industrial unit wise coal supply, the online application to be made by individual units, the quantity and capacity of the unit and use of coal. The e-portal will be updated by the government-appointed agency.

The government has made it amply clear that the coal will be supplied to those enterprises that will declare their coal requirement and capacity. In case of any scam, the deposit of the said enterprise will be seized and the coal price equivalent to the scam will be recovered from it.