Patna, May 6: The state government has yet again accused the Centre of meting out step-motherly treatment, this time over reports that the coal ministry has cancelled the allocation of the Saria Khoyatand coal block in Jharkhand which was allotted to Bihar in 2006.

The coal ministry has de-allocated about 20 coal blocks, including the one at Saria Khoyatand given to Bihar Rajya Khanij Bikas Nigam in 2006. The ministry has said that the states which were allotted these coal blocks had failed to start extraction even after three years.

Expressing concern over the cancellation of the coal block, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today linked the Centre’s decision to the loss that the Congress and its allies had to suffer in the 2010 Assembly elections in Bihar and said the decision was politically motivated.

Modi said that around a dozen companies had expressed interest in setting up a steel plant in the state due to allocation of the Saria Khoyatand coal block but cancellation of the allocation would adversely hit the interest of the state.

The block has deposits of coking coal which is used in the steel industry.

Giving reasons for the delay on part of the state government in extracting coal, Modi said the technology used for mining from this block would have to be imported from foreign countries. In spite of floating tenders twice in the past, the process could not be completed due to some technical reasons.

“After appointing Infrastructure Development Authority as consultant for this project, steps were being taken for floating a global tender for mining of coal from the block but the Centre’s decision has come as a major setback,” he added.

The Bihar government has now become suspicious about the fate of the Urma Pahari block, which has an estimated deposit of 700 million tonne of coal. The coal block has been allocated to Bihar and Jharkhand and their respective shares are 37 and 63 per cent, respectively.

“As both these states have an NDA government, the Centre can scuttle this project also,” Modi said.

NDA Bihar convener and road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav too joined in hitting out at the Centre. He said that while on the one hand, the Centre was not giving coal linkage to proposed power plants in Bihar, on the other, it had now cancelled the allocation of a coal block, the mining technology for which was not available in India.

“The Centre’s decision is very unfortunate,” said Bihar Chamber of Commerce president O.P. Sah.

“Cancellation of allotment on the ground of delay is unjustified. The Centre should have developed proper infrastructure for mining and optimal usage of such blocks,” he said.