BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State Government is yet to recover from the multi-crore linkage-coal scam, the Directorate of Industries has recommended allocation of two lakh tonne subsidised coal in favour of the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) for distribution among coal-consuming micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The Directorate made the recommendation to the Government without assessing the annual requirement of the MSMEs of the nine districts for which NSIC is the nodal agency for distribution. A Central Government concern, NSIC was allocated one lakh tonne coal in the last financial year for distribution among the coal-consuming MSMEs. The Central agency had supplied 58,000 tonnes of coal to MSMEs, official sources said. The Government issued a fresh guideline for distribution of coal among MSMEs in August 2010 after the linkage-coal scam rocked the State with Opposition demanding resignation of two ministers for their alleged involvement in it. The Government appointed three agencies for distribution of coal among identified industries in the allotted districts. While NSIC was appointed the coal-distributing agency for nine districts, the Orissa Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) and the Orissa Consumer Cooperative Federation (OCCF) were appointed distributors for 12 and nine districts respectively. As per the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP), annual coal requirement of an MSME should not be more than 4,200 tonne. Eligible MSMEs will have to apply to the District Industries Centre (DIC) concerned indicating their annual requirement of coal by the first week of March every year (for existing units) and after going into production (for new units). A joint verification of the unit will be made by the general manager, DIC, and an officer of the MSME Development Institute to assess the actual need of coal. The determination of coal requirement of each unit will be on the basis of its installed capacity, volume of finished products sold the previous year, quantity of coal consumed and quantity of coal recommended to the State nodal agency in the previous year. This exercise should be completed by March-end every year. After capacity and requirement of coal of the unit are determined, DIC general manager will recommend the case to the specified State-nominated agency for distribution of coal with the approval of the district collector. Copies of the recommendations should be submitted to the Director of Industries. The State-nominated agencies will distribute coal among the MSMEs, approved by the district collector, and the agencies will submit a list of units supplied with coal (indicating the quantity) to the DIC concerned and the Directorate of Industries. The Industries Department is reported to have queried from the Directorate of Industries whether NSIC have met these requirements and DICs concerned verified the coal requirements of the MSMEs.
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