Modi takes stock of verdict fallout

Soon after the apex court delivered its judgment on coal block allocations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and discussed the fallout of the verdict on the coal and power sectors.

Though what exactly transpired at the meeting is not known, sources told Deccan Herald that the prime minister discussed bottlenecks in the power sector, and also deliberated on the fallout of the apex court's decision on coal block allocation.

About 28,000 MW of power generation capacity may be affected if the Supreme Court cancels coal mines that it said were illegally allocated between 1993-2010. Modi is likely to hold another round of deliberations in a day or two on the issue, sources said.

“The prime minister desires that all issues which are urgent and need to be prioritised should be quickly resolved,” Goyal told reporters before the meeting.

Goyal is learnt to have provided an account of his work in the past three months to Modi, including resolving conflicts between power sector borrowers and banks.

The bankers have time and again raised the issue of delayed regulatory clearances with the government, which caused the banks and other financial institutions to shy away from investing in the sector.

Reacting to the Supreme Court order, Goyal told reporters: “This has brought a finality and closure to a dispute that has raged on for many years. The economy can now move forward rapidly, rather than languishing in the shadow of uncertainty.”