Industry Power sector: Chhattisgarh is one of the few States of India where Power sector is effectively developed. Based on the current production of surplus electric power, position of the State is comfortable and profitable.

The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) is in a strong position to meet the electricity requirement of the new State and is in good financial health. Chhattisgarh provides electricity to several other states because of surplus production, and it's power hubs are Korba and Bilaspur.

NTPC will not sign separate fuel supply agreements (FSAs) for new units and old units at the same power station as is now required by Coal India. It intends to sign the same set of contracts – the one it has already signed for some of its units.
The company will be consuming almost 50% of the incremental coal that will be supplied by Coal India Ltd (CIL) under the new draft agreement.

Raman Singh-led Chhattisgarh Government and the Indian Railways on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop three rail corridors in the coal rich Northern region of the tribal State. The three corridors totaling 452 km will be built at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore. The three corridors would be developed on the public- private-partnership model over the next five years, Singh told reporters after the signing ceremony.

The Railways is likely to announce plans to develop three industrial freight corridors in Chhattisgarh in the coming Budget. The projects, taken up on the initiative of the Chhattisgarh government, are to be rolled out in the form of special purpose vehicles where the Railways would be a stakeholder, along with equity stakes from a bevy of private sector power developers who are setting up projects in the State. The Chhattisgarh government too would contribute in kind by providing the land and thereby be a partner in each of the three projects.

Secy to seek funds in addition to . 67700cr already received this fiscal year. The fertiliser ministry may seek more funds from the finance ministry to meet its subsidy obligations as it needs more than the allocated amount to take care of the rising subsidy bill, a top official said. “We have already received . 17,700 crore in addition to the budgetary allocation of around . 50,000 crore. But we still need more funds, and the amount will be finalised in consultation with the finance ministry,” said fertiliser secretary Ajay Bhattacharya.

AN ECOLOGICAL disaster has been unfolding in Chhattisgarh, with a private company indulging in excessive mining without environmental clearance for the past four years. Prakash Industries has been mining more than 10 lakh tonnes of coal every year when it has been cleared for only 3 lakh tonnes.
Gambhir Singh

The environment ministry has told a Group of Ministers (GoM) that the coal ministry’s argument of a possible production shortfall of 39 million tonne is untenable as it has lifted the moratorium from five out of seven coalfields.

A new environment minister and a sympathetic ministry helping company get clearances for projects stuck in the pipeline
Coal India is gearing up for around . 42,000-crore investment in the next few years as its projects, stuck under environment norms, start getting clearances.

This also involves foreign acquisitions, the clearances for which are likely to come in the next few weeks.

Union environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan, at a recent meeting told the Group of Ministers (GoM) that the system of ‘go’ and ‘no-go’ has not been mandated by the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (FCA) and does not have any legal standing.

This is a significant departure from the stand advocated by her predecessor Jairam Ramesh, namely that allowing coal mining in forest areas would “defeat the spirit” of the FCA.