Western Coalfields Limited: 373 hectares vested in Nagpur

The Ministry of Coal has notified the vesting of approximately 373.027 hectares in Western Coalfields Limited for the Amalgamated Gondegaon-Ghatrohana Expansion Open Cast Mine in Nagpur district, Maharashtra. Notification S.O. 5701(E), dated and published on 19 October 2026, gives the transfer of the land and all rights in or over it effect from 6 August 2026.

The ministry issued the direction under Section 11(1) of the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957. This provision allows the Centre to vest acquired land or rights in a government company subject to conditions. Vesting means that those land rights legally pass to the company.

The October notification follows the acquisition declaration issued in August; it is not a fresh proposal to acquire the area. The ministry states that the land and rights had already vested in the Central Government under Section 10(1), free from encumbrances, meaning legal burdens on the property. The new direction places them with Western Coalfields Limited instead.

Compensation and legal costs fall on the company

The notification requires Western Coalfields Limited to make all payments for compensation, interest, damages and similar liabilities as determined under the Act and other relevant laws. It records the Centre’s satisfaction that the company is willing to comply with the conditions imposed on the vesting.

A tribunal, a statutory body for determining the amounts payable, is to be constituted under Section 14. Western Coalfields Limited must bear expenditure connected with that tribunal and the people appointed to assist it. The company must also meet expenditure on appeals and other legal proceedings concerning rights in or over the land.

A separate condition requires the company to indemnify the Central Government and its officials: it must cover other expenditure arising from proceedings brought by or against them concerning those land rights. This obligation sits alongside, rather than replaces, the company’s responsibility for compensation and tribunal costs.

The Centre also retains control over any onward transfer. Western Coalfields Limited cannot transfer the land or the vested rights to another person without prior Central Government approval. It must comply with further directions or conditions that the Centre may impose for particular portions of the land.

Land in three Nagpur villages

The schedule to the ministry’s acquisition notification, S.O. 4346(E) of 6 August 2026, identifies land in Ghatrohana, Juni Kamthi and Gondegaon villages in Parseoni tehsil. It lists approximately 243.472 hectares in Ghatrohana, 114.341 hectares in Juni Kamthi and 15.214 hectares in Gondegaon.

Across the three villages, the schedule records 351.860 hectares as tenancy land, 20.387 hectares as government land and 0.780 hectares under the Mahagenco category. Its forest-land column records zero. These are the classifications in the acquisition schedule, not a statement about environmental permissions for the mine.

The government-land entries include roads and drains, a canal in Juni Kamthi and village settlement land in Ghatrohana. The schedule identifies individual plots and describes the boundaries of the notified area, including stretches adjoining the Pench and Kanhan rivers.

The August notification also identifies a land plan dated 10 March 2026. It states that the plan may be inspected at the Nagpur Collector’s office, the Coal Controller’s office or Western Coalfields Limited’s land and revenue department. The village totals therefore accompany a plot-level schedule and an identified plan, rather than defining the acquisition by area alone.

From prospecting notice to acquisition

The ministry’s December acquisition-intention notification records an earlier prospecting notice, S.O. 3212(E), dated 14 July 2025 and published on 15 July 2025. Prospecting is the investigation of land for coal deposits. That earlier notice covered approximately 373.598 hectares.

The Centre subsequently issued S.O. 5728(E), dated 9 December 2025 and published on 10 December 2025, announcing its intention under Section 7(1) to acquire the land and associated rights. The ministry said it was satisfied that coal was obtainable in part of the notified area.

That notification reproduced Section 8’s objection procedure. A person with an interest in the land could object in writing within 30 days of the notification’s issue. The provision required the competent authority to offer an opportunity to be heard, personally or through a legal practitioner, before reporting to the Centre.

For this procedure, Section 8 treated a person as interested in the land if that person would be entitled to claim an interest in compensation following acquisition. The notification thus linked eligibility to object with an interest in compensation, rather than limiting the procedure to people named as landowners.

In its report dated 25 February 2026, the Coal Controller Organization said its office had received no objection to acquisition of the notified land or rights. That statement records the position at that office; it does not establish that every affected person supported the acquisition.

The August declaration states that the Centre considered the competent authority’s report and consulted the Maharashtra Government before deciding on acquisition. Its final area was smaller than the December proposal. The earlier schedule listed 242.963 hectares in Ghatrohana and 115.421 hectares in Juni Kamthi, while the Gondegaon area remained unchanged in the August schedule. The declaration does not explain the reason for the overall reduction.

The October vesting notification does not specify a compensation total, a payment timetable or a date for constituting the tribunal. Those financial determinations remain separate from the notified transfer of land rights to Western Coalfields Limited.