Allowing pvt sector to mine and sell coal commercially is a mammoth task

India’s plans to open up the commercial mining and sale of coal to private companies took five years in the making. After it was introduced in the Coal Mining (Special Pro­vi­sions) Act, 2015, several announcements and trials were conducted before a final policy was announced as part of the Rs 20-trillion Aatmnirbhar Bharat package by the finance minister last week.

The Union Cabinet decision that followed the announcement also approved the new methodology for auctioning coal mines to private players. The government plans to auction 50 mines immediately.

Currently, only two government-owned companies — Coal India Limited and Singareni Collieries