Feature
Confident about Coal India raising output: Goyal
New Delhi: Following his talks with unions to end the Coal India workers’ strike, Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal is doubly confident of the state miner achieving its production target of a million tonnes of coal by 2019.
“What I am most confident about that can actually happen, more so after my night before yesterday’s meeting with the union leaders, is that Coal India will reach its target of doubling its production by 2019,” Goyal said addressing an Economic Times event on the power sector Friday.
“They (unions) gave me a number of specific and valuable suggestions, for instance, how 11 million tonnes could be produced from a particular mine if environment clearance was taken, or on checking theft of coal,” he added.
The power ministry Thursday listed coal workers calling off their nationwide strike late Wednesday as a major achievment of the first 200 days of the NDA government.
“Coal India (CIL) will be protected and there need be no apprehension about its ownership or management going into private hands,” Goyal told media persons after a marathon six-hour-long meeting here with union leaders.
The unionised miners have promised to help make up for the loss, he added.
Pointing out how the ordinance on reallocation and auction of 204 coal blocks cancelled in September by the Surpeme Court will change the power generation scenario, Goyal said the process of e-auction was the “first true test” of the government’s ability to transit seamlessly from the old system of allotment of mines to their auctioning.
“A 100-odd blocks are going to be out by June. We’re focusing on the first 42 mines in March,” the minister said of the auction time-table.
“By March, when the auctions are through and bankers see more coal production, it will also resolve issues of financing of the sector,” Goyal added.
Saying it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support which helped him “bite the bullet” on the ordinance with the enabling provisions for commercial mining of coal, Goyal said that production grew by over 14 percent in October-November last year.
Electricity generation also witnessed double-digit growth over the same period, at 10.2 percent.
Pointing out the capital needs of the power sector, Ratul Puri, chairman Hindustan Powerprojects, said that to ensure capital availability for the sector over $200 billion of investment was required during the 13th Plan period beginning 2017.
“Over Rs.10 lakh (1 million) crore of debt needs to be taken on, where the banking system’s cumulative outstandings are around 20 lakh crore. Banks cannot meet this challenge without policy intervention,” Puri said.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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