Energy ministry plans to place again draft coal policy before cabinet

The Ministry of Energy plans to place again the draft coal policy before the Cabinet Division by the end of September, clarifying all the queries that have cropped up over the mining modalities concerning the country's important natural wealth.
According to official sources, the Energy Division is now preparing responses to the queries asked by the advisers in the recent meeting of the Council of Advisers in Chittagong.
The Council of Advisers sent back the draft national coal policy to the Energy Division for more review and vetting.
Sources said most of the advisers put up questions about the rehabilitation and land reclamation provisions laid down in the draft policy, which proposed not to give back the acquired land to its original owners after completion of coal mining.
They also registered difference of opinion on royalty-fixation provision, which the draft policy made flexible for a government's high-powered committee.
Another provision of the draft policy regarding the share offloading of the coalmine-developing companies drew questions from the advisers.
They felt that the Securities and Exchange Commission should be the appropriate authority in dealing with the matter while draft policy provides a specific procedure.
The Energy Division is preparing the answers and suggestions accommodating the views of the advisers.
“We're trying to respond to all the queries asked by the meeting of the Council of Advisers,” Energy Secretary Mohammad Mohsin told UNB.
The immediate-past BNP-led alliance government had started the process of preparing coal policy, in view of substantial deposits of the mineral fuel in the country's northern region, the discoveries that unfolded a second boon after natural gas.