Dhanbad: Coal Minister Uma Bharati on October 4 said that her ministry did not intend to push the long pending Coal Mines Nationalisation (Amendment) Bill in Parliament for privatisation of coal mines.

Addressing a press conference in Dhanbad during a brief visit she said, "I don't intend to push the Bill".

Answering questions she said, "Coal India will never be denationalised".

On the Jharia mine fire, she said she had planned her coalfield visit at the instance of the President A P J Abdul Kalam who wanted her to survey the underground mine fires in and around Jharia and submit a detailed report on the fate of the thickly populated township, she said.

The Coal Minister said she had been invited by the President to Rashtrapati Bhavan along with a team of mine experts to study the magnitude of Jharia fires.

A decision on the impact of the Jharia fire would be taken by her ministry considering the interests of local residents and about alternative arrangements if possible.

"The Coal ministry will submit Plan I, Plan II and Plan III for the Jharia fire and whichever was approved by the country's greatest scientist, Dr AP J Abdul Kalam, will be final," Bharati said.

The Coal Minister also visited the Rajapur fire area, where the underground mine fire in Jharia had originated.

Earlier, the minister held a meeting with the CIL (Coal India Limited) chairman and the Additional Coal Secretary during which officials briefed her that the company was gradually heading towards making profits by introducing latest coal technologies in its mines.

"The CIL had done better this year than the last," she said.

The Coal Minister admitted that coal and other related thefts mainly contributed to the loss in CIL mines.

This had to be stopped by improving the internal system of administration with the help of respective state governments, she said.

PTI