Industry has sought easier norms for commercial coal blocks, including lesser payment and more lenient requirement of minimum production.
Potential bidders want upfront payment to be halved and computed on the basis of extractable reserves in a block and not on the total reserves estimate.
The draft rules provide for minimum 70% production on an average over a three-year period, while yearly minimum production has to be 50%. Potential miners want this changed to 60% average production in a five-year period and no yearly production stipulations.
