Modi govt's Coal Mines Bill gets Rajya Sabha nod

The crucial Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015, which provides legal framework for auction of coal blocks, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Friday, replacing an Ordinance by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government that was to expire on April 5.

The coal bill was approved by the Parliament after several amendments moved by the Congress and Left were defeated, on the last day of the first half of ongoing Budget session.

The Bill was passed with 107 members voting in favour and 62 against in the 245-member Upper House, where the ruling BJP-led coalition is in a minority, indicating that some non-NDA parties backed the government.

The Bill had already been passed by the Lok Sabha on March 4. However, the government was on tenterhooks till the Rajya Sabha cleared it as Friday was the last day of the first leg of Budget session and the ordinance, issued by the government on October 21 2014, was set to expire on April 5.

The Bill, when introduced in the Rajya Sabha after passage in Lok Sabha, was sent to a Select Committee on March 11 as the opposition parties insisted on proper scrutiny and changes in the proposed legislation. The Committee gave its report on Wednesday.

The legislation replaces the government's Ordinance, which was re-promulgated on December 26 after the Supreme Court cancelled allocation of 204 coal blocks terming the allocations as fatally flawed.

Passage of the Bill provides a legal framework for the auction of the coal blocks.

The government has already auctioned 33 blocks garnering a revenue to the tune of over Rs 2.13 lakh crore, surpassing the former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai's estimates of Rs 1.86 lakh crore loss.

Amendments were moved by Congress members Digvijay Singh and P Bhattacharya, CPI-M's P Rajeev, K N Balagopal, T N Seema and Tapan Kumar Sen and CPI's D Raja but all of them were defeated. Some members, including DMK Tiruchi Siva, withdrew their amendments.