Question : Pilferage and Theft of Coal

(a) whether any assessment has been made in regard to pilferage and theft of coal in the Coal India Ltd. and its subsidiaries and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Government has also taken note of illegal sale of coal from the coal mines / block including captive coal blocks resulting in huge loss to the exchequer;
(c) if so, the details thereof including the number of such complaints reported during each of the last three years, company-wise;
(d) the action taken by the Government against those found indulging in illegal sale of coal; and
(e) the mechanism put in place by the Government to check illegal sale of coal from the coal blocks?

MINISTER OF COAL AND RAILWAYS
(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) : Law & Order is a State subject, hence primarily it is the responsibility of the State/ District administration to take necessary deterrent action to stop/curb theft / pilferage of coal. Theft/pilferage of coal, if any, is carried out stealthily and clandestinely. As such it is not possible to specify the exact quantum of coal stolen and losses incurred on account of theft/pilferage. Illegal mining of coal is reported to be carried out mainly from abandoned mines, shallow coal seams situated at remote/isolated places from the mines and are scattered over a large area. As per information received from Coal India Ltd., during the raids conducted by security personnel as well as joint raids with the law and order authorities of the State Government concerned, the quantity of coal recovered and its approximate value [Subsidiary-wise and State-wise] during the last three years are as under :-

Name of the company State 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 (upto July’18) (Provisional)
Quantity Recovered (tonnes) Approx. Value (Rupees in Lakh) Quantity Recovered (tonnes) Approx. Value (Rupees in Lakh) Quantity Recovered (tonnes) Approx. Value (Rupees in Lakh) Quantity Recovered (tonnes) Approx. Value (Rupees in Lakh)
Eastern Coalfields Ltd. West Bengal 4993.27 249.67 7804.76 390.23 8667.24 433.36 3338.91 166.930
Jharkhand 2645.78 132.32 3500.66 175.03 2346.53 117.33 1086.44 54.310
Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. Jharkhand 12071.40 529.67 12718.85 549.60 5093.34 199.11 1464.86 73.278
West Bengal 445.84 20.54 810.44 33.60 537.35 20.20 364.13 14.384
Central Coalfields Ltd. Jharkhand 99.00 1.05 147.00 1.47 539.97 15.79 236.21 5.606
Northern Coalfields Ltd. Madhya Pradesh 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.0
Uttar Pradesh 0.00 0.00 3.00 0.04 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.0
Western Coalfields Ltd. Maharashtra 53.00 1.12 225.15 5.42 261.96 7.63 39.00 1.870
Madhya Pradesh 0.00 0.00 3.00 0.18 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.0
South-Eastern Coalfields Ltd. Madhya Pradesh 0.00 0.00 3.50 0.14 26.00 0.57 0.0 0.0
Chattisgarh 57.50 2.11 25.00 1.50 38.00 0.77 6.00 0.240
Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. Orissa 63.10 0.63 57.80 0.38 92.53 0.93 72.80 0.748
North-Eastern Coalfields Assam 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.0

Coal India Limited 20428.89 937.11 25296.16 1157.56 17602.92 795.69 6608.35 317.366

The coal companies are working in close coordination with the State / local administration to prevent theft / pilferage of coal. The Government of India has launched mobile APP namely "Khanan Prahri" and web APP "Coal Mine Surveillance and Management System" (CMSMS) for monitoring and reporting unauthorised coal mining activities and enable the Law & Order Authority to take suitable action in time.

(b) No illegal sale of coal from coal blocks has been reported.

(c) to (e) : In view of the above question does not arise.

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