The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Council of Advisers yesterday asked the Energy Ministry to place the draft National Coal Policy again after further scrutiny for final approval.

"We have discussed in detail the draft National Coal Policy, but we could not arrive at a final decision on it," Commerce Adviseer Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman said while briefing reporters on the outcome of the maiden meeting of the Council of Advisers in the port city held at the Chittagong Circuit House.

The advisers expressed themselves in favour of further examination of the draft national coal policy before final approval by the council, he added.

Meanwhile, highly placed sources in the Energy Ministry said that the council of advisers at the meeting held detailed discussions on the royalty issues, licenses for exploration or extraction from coal-fields, land, water and environmental issues before and after extraction.

The draft national coal policy failed to get final nod at the meeting, as the advisers were not unanimous in their views on different vital issues, sources added.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed presided over the council of advisers meeting.

The draft national coal policy has discouraged export of coal considering the demand for energy in the country. It has also suggested awarding exploration and development license of any coalfield to only state run organisation, which will be able to embark on joint venture through competitive bidding.

The draft policy also recommended formation of a separate state-run organisation to be styled 'Khani Bangla' to oversee the coal and mine related activities. It also suggested constitution of a coal sector development committee to fix the royalty rate.

As per the draft coal policy, licenses for exploration or extraction from any coal-field will be awarded through open tenders, whereas the existing rules say that the licenses would be awarded on first-come-first-served basis, said sources.

On royalty rate issue, the mining rules said that the royalty on coal extraction would be 6 per cent for open-pit mines and 5 per cent for underground mines, whereas the policy says that a proposed coal sector development committee will fix the royalty.

The energy division of Bangladesh sent a draft coal policy to the council of advisers for approval two weeks back, sources said.