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New Delhi : Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 16, 2020, announced structural reforms in the eight sectors of Coal, Minerals, Defence production, Civil Aviation, Power Sector, Social Infrastructure, Space and Atomic energy.
COAL SECTOR : Introduction of Commercial Mining in Coal Sector – The Government will introduce competition, transparency and private sector participation in the Coal Sector through: A revenue sharing mechanism instead of regime of fixed Rupee/tonne. Any party can bid for a coal block and sell in the open market. Entry norms will be liberalised. Nearly 50 Blocks will be offered immediately. There will not be any eligibility conditions, only upfront payment with a ceiling will be provided. Production earlier than scheduled will be incentivized through rebate in revenue-share.
Diversified Opportunities in Coal Sector: Coal Gasification / Liquefication will be incentivised through rebate in revenue share. This will result in significantly lower environment impact and also assist India in switching to a gas-based economy. Infrastructure development of Rs 50,000 crore will be done for evacuation of enhanced Coal India Limited’s (CIL) target of 1 billion tons coal production by 2023-24 plus coal production from private blocks. This will include Rs 18,000 crore worth of investment in mechanised transfer of coal (conveyor belts) from mines to railway sidings. This measure will also help reduce environmental impact.
Liberalised Regime in Coal Sector: Coal Bed Methane (CBM) extraction rights will be auctioned from Coal India Limited’s (CIL) coal mines. Ease of Doing Business measures, such as Mining Plan simplification, will be taken. This will allow for automatic 40% increase in annual production. Concessions in commercial terms given to CIL’s consumers (relief worth Rs 5,000 crore offered). Reserve price in auctions for non-power consumers reduced, credit terms eased, and lifting period has been enhanced, according to a PIB release.
During her press conference, Sitharaman outlined the need for Policy reforms to fast track investments and the steps taken by the Government in this regard. She stated that fast track clearance is being done through Empowered Group of Secretaries and a Project Development Cell would be set up in each Ministry to prepare investable projects and coordinate with investors and Central and State governments. There will be ranking of States on investment attractiveness to compete for new investment. Incentive schemes for promotion of new champion sectors will be launched in sectors such as solar PV manufacturing; advanced cell battery storage etc.
Smt. Sitharaman also announced that there will be availability of industrial land/land banks for promoting new investments and making information available on Industrial Information System (IIS) with GIS mapping. A total of 3,376 Industrial Parks/ Estates/SEZs in five lakh hectares are mapped on IIS. All Industrial Parks will be ranked during 2020-21.
Sitharaman announced Enhancing Self Reliance in Defence Production; Policy Reforms in Defence Production;Efficient Airspace Management for Civil Aviation; More World-Class Airports through PPP; India to become a global hub for Aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO); Tariff Policy Reform in Power Sector; Privatization of Distribution in UTs;Boosting private sector investment through revamped Viability Gap Funding Scheme in Social Sector; Boosting private participation in space activities; and Reforms in Atomic Energy Sector.
Make in India’ for Self-Reliance in Defence Production will be promoted by notifying a list of weapons/platforms for ban on import with year wise timelines, Indigenisation of imported spares, and separate budget provisioning for domestic capital procurement. This will help reduce huge Defence import bill. Improve autonomy, accountability and efficiency in Ordnance Supplies by Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board.
FDI limit in the Defence manufacturing under automatic route will be raised from 49% to 74%.There will be time-bound defence procurement process and faster decision making will be ushered in by setting up of a Project Management Unit (PMU) to support contract management; Realistic setting of General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs) of weapons/platforms and overhauling Trial and Testing procedures.
Six more airports have been identified for 2nd round bidding for Operation and Maintenance on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) basis.