Islamabad yields to Sindh''s pressure: notification on Thar Coal Authority Withdrawn

Federal government has withdrawn its notification for establishment of Thar Coal Authority (TCA), approved by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, due to continuous resistance of Sindh government, well-placed sources in PPIB told Business Recorder on Thursday.
The Cabinet Division on July 8 constituted a seven-member TCA with Sindh Chief Minister as its chairman until the appointment of a professional of eminence by the provincial assembly. The Minister for Water and Power was notified as Vice-Chairman of the TCA, while Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, one provincial minister, to be nominated by the Chief Minister, Sindh Chief Secretary and TCA Managing Director as its members.
The much talked about TCA, the sources said, had been constituted after prior consultation with the provincial government. The authority came into being after the abolition of the Sindh Coal Authority (SCA) and Thar Coal Mining Company (TCMC), a joint venture of the Federal and provincial government.
The sources said that the main purpose of the government was to take Thar coal project back from the PPIB, which never supported it whole-heartedly. The Federal government notification had proposed that "all agencies, organisations, entities in whatever form or name, including the TCMC and SCA that are especially created for Thar development shall be abolished by the concerned authorities.
All other agencies, which are not Thar-specific but are also working on Thar coal development shall have their mandate truncated to the extent of Thar coal. They, shall, however, continue doing their other normal business." The sources said, abolition of SCA and TCMC was one of the major reasons, which irritated the provincial government.
After the issuance of notification by the Federal government, provincial leadership protested at the highest level over what they said the "most controversial notification," the sources continued. On July 22, the provincial government issued two notifications to establish Thar Coal and Energy Board (TCED) and enhance the strength of the board''s members, setting aside the notification of the Federal government.
"We accept that coal exploration is the right of the respective province, but power generation is the Federal subject," said one of the officials of the Ministry of Water and Power. The ministry, which had earlier made its utmost effort to establish the authority''s office in the PPIB, is of the view that principal seat of the board would be at Karachi. The Sindh government has included two provincial ministers and Asad Ali Shah, as nominee of Sindh government on the board.