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The government is looking to protect the interests of the staff employed at cancelled coal mines after taking care of land and ownership issues.
On September 24, the Supreme Court cancelled all but four coal blocks allotted by the government over the past two decades.
The coal ministry last week sought information about workers at the 204 cancelled coal blocks.
"We do not want a repeat of what happened during the 1970s when coal mining was nationalised. All staff with private miners came under the control of Coal India, which was difficult to manage," said a senior official.
He said workers employed at the cancelled mines would be accounted for during re-allocation of blocks without burdening Coal India, which has been transferred all the mines till the auctions.
Senior government officials said the intention was to prevent immediate job losses. "We are consulting rules laid by the labour law. The staff employed will continue to work at the mines and we will share details with the allottee," the official said.
In its request for information sent to coal block owners, the government has asked for a break-up of managers, supervisors and workers on their payroll.
The government has decided to allot coal mines to state bodies such as NTPC and state electricity boards. It will also auction blocks to private companies for use in the power, cement and steel industries. The 42 operational mines that were cancelled and 32 others in various stages of production will be auctioned first.
Quashing any idea of denationalisation of the coal industry, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Coal India's structure would remain unchanged. Land for the cancelled mines will be transferred to the allottee at a price decided by a competent authority during the course of the auction.
