Coal India is bleeding but govt keeps pressuring to declare large dividends

Since September 2018, CIL's cash reserves have fallen over 17 per cent to Rs 28,446.83 crore

Coal India Limited (CIL) is bleeding its cash reserves. As the first ever auctions for coal mines without any restrictions on sale of coal began on November 2, it is a sobering thought. The haemorrhaging also has implications for whether CIL will end up practically defunct like another public sector behemoth, BHEL, or whether it would manage to retain its dominance, like Life Insurance Corporation. Perhaps the government feels the former is more likely and so is in a hurry to gobble up dividends and sell more tranches of its shares.

Since September 2018, CIL’s cash reserves have fallen over 17