CHANDIGARH: For 16 years after allotment, Haryana’s coal block remained buried in the books, as everyone from the state and central governments to bureaucrats, power department, and Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) was unaware that the state could be not just power surplus but also coal surplus on account of having its own mines.
Had the governments acted in time, Haryana would have started getting coal linkage from 2018 onwards. In August 2006, the coal ministry had allocated the Mara-II-Mahan block with 955 million tonnes of reserves to the HPGCL and the Delhi government jointly. The block could not be development for want of forest clearance from the environment ministry on account of amended laws and rules. The 53-square-kilometre coal block has a coal-bearing area of 30 sq km. In 2009, the two neighboring states made a joint venture in Yamuna Coal Company (YCCPL) with equal stakes for the HPGCL and Indraprastha Power Generation Corporation Limited (IPGCL). Later, the IGPCL walked out of the deal and the sole rights came to the HPGCL.
