Assocham terms SC's ruling on coal block allocations as harsh

Terming the Supreme Court's ruling of cancelling the allocation of 214 coal blocks as "a bit harsh", industry body Assocham on Wednesday said the verdict will lead to higher coal imports.

"Our main concern is on the kind of negative impact on the economy which has just been showing signs of recovery after over two years of slowdown," Assocham President Rana Kapoor said reacting to the ruling of the apex court.

In a blow to the corporate sector, the Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed allocation of 214 out of 218 coal blocks, which were alloted to various companies since 1993.

"Being largely dependent on the thermal power, it is the coal which fires the economic growth, which will be halted, besides, the dependence on coal imports will increase," the Assocham chief said.

He expressed the hope that the government gets about announcing new system of allocation of coal blocks with great speed.