Indian power and cement sectors including captive power plants have been allocated 87Mt of coal for the first quarter of 2005-06. The minister of state for coal and mines, Dasari Narayana Rao on Thursday approved the recommendations of the Standing Linkage Committee, an inter-ministerial body in the department of coal which considers coal demand from various sectors. The power sector has been given a linkage of 75.15Mt, while the cement sector 4Mt in the first quarter of the next fiscal. In view of the prevailing coal shortage, the cmmittee has recommended that the power sector should import 10-12Mt coal in 2005-06. The Cement Manufacturers Association’s (CMA) coal receipts during April 2004-February 2005 were 12.22Mt against 10.96Mt during the corresponding period of last year.