(a) whether the condition of Central Coalfields Limited
( CCL), Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and Eastern
Coalfields Limited ( ECL) in very miserable;
(b) if so, the factors attributed thereto;
(c) the steps taken by the Government to improve their
condition and functioning as well
MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL AND MINES ( SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) to (c) : The Bharat Coking Coal Limited ( BCCL)
Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) and Central Coalfields
Limited (CCL) are the three subsidiaries of Coal India
Limited (CIL) which are running under losses
consistently. These companies have been referred to the
Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR)
under the Sick Industrial Companies ( Special Provisions)
Act, 1985 for substantial erosion of their net-worth.
The main reasons for losses in ECL, BCCL & CCL are
(i) existence of a large number of small underground (UG)
mines which are no longer amenable to viable operation,
(ii low productivity for UG mines as compared to
successive increases in wages,
(iii) surplus manpower,
(iv) adverse geo-mining conditions and
(v) problem of
land acquisition and resettlement of land oustees
affecting production from a few large coal mines.
In February, 1996, a package for capital
restructuring of CIL was approved by the Government
whereby CIL’s overdue liabilities of Rs. 2, 228.57
crores were taken care of by waiver of arrears of
interests, partly by conversion to preference equity and
partly by moratorium on repayment and interest accrual.
These benefits were passed on to the loss making
subsidiaries such as ECL and BCCL. Further, in order
to improve the performance of the loss making companies
of ECL and BCCL, CIL had affected an internal
restructuring of the equity and loan structure of its
subsidiaries, whereby debts of Rs. 994 crores in ECL
and Rs. 1,180.70 crores in BCCL were converted into
equity.
Following steps have been taken to check the losses
and to make the coal mines profitable :-
i) Conversion of underground mines to opencast mines, wherever practicable.
ii) Mechanisation of underground mines wherever feasible by introducing SDLs, LHDs and Continuous Miners.
iii) Encouraging Voluntary Retirement Scheme to reduce manpower and facilitate introduction of mechanisation.
iv) Effective utilisation of existing resources by motivation to achieve higher productivity by way of close monitoring and incentives.
v) Coal Quality Improvement drive in all mines.