New Delhi, Sept. 17 (PTI): The cabinet secretary is expected to chair a meeting of the empowered committee of secretaries (ECS) on Monday to discuss bids for coal bed methane (CBM) blocks.

The government had deferred awarding the bids in the face of allegations of last minute changes in the evaluation norms.

The government is understood to have suggested that the cabinet secretary should head the committee, which includes secretaries of finance, mines, coal and petroleum following a request from the petroleum ministry.

This will be the first meeting of the ECS following a decision by the cabinet committee on economic affairs late last month to defer the award of the contracts of the 10 CBM blocks.

Earlier, a meeting of the ECS was scheduled to be held on September 7, but was deferred due to the absence of the coal secretary, who was to chair the meeting.