NTPC still awaits Centre’s nod for hiving mines into new subsidiary.

NTPC Limited’s decision to hive off its coal mining activities into a separate subsidiary seems to have run into bureaucratic hurdles.

The public sector undertaking had announced in August 2019 that it had incorporated a subsidiary, NTPC Mining Limited, to look after its commercial coal mining business. But, NTPC is still awaiting nod from the Centre for the same.

It was expected that NTPC will be transferring 10 coal mines that it had won in earlier bids into this subsidiary and will operate it as a wholly owned subsidiary under the NTPC group. While the approvals for setting up and incorporating the subsidiary have been given, it is the transfer of mines into this subsidiary that is being questioned.

“There are statutory issues which are known to NTPC. It relates to the condition of end use. These mines were bid only to end users of coal. We cannot have a situation where the coal mine and power plants that will use this coal are owned by different entities,” a senior Coal Ministry official told BusinessLine.

HBL