New Legislation - January 2015- July 2015

The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015

On September 24, 2014, the Supreme Court cancelled the allocation of 204 coal blocks allocated by the Ministry of Coal under the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973 on grounds of arbitrariness in the allocation process. The Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 ("Coal Mines Act") which was notified on March 30, 2015 lays down the process for allocation of the coal blocks which were cancelled by the Supreme Court order.

The coal blocks are categorised into three categories, Schedule I, Schedule II and Schedule III. Schedule I consists of the 204 mines cancelled by the Supreme Court, Schedule II consists of 42 mines of the 204, which are under production. Schedule III comprises of mines with specified end uses e.g. power, iron and steel, cement and coal washing.