The coal sector would soon get a regulator as the government has finalised a draft bill for the purpose, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal said today.
Replying the supplementaries in the Lok Sabha, he said a draft bill on coal regulator was ready and under examination by the Law Ministry.
A coal regulator will also help in pricing of the cheap fuel for thermal power stations.
Jaiswal said that the government has also switched over to the Gross Calorific Value based classification of non-coking coal with effect from January one.
"This system will ensure a high degree of consistency in quality of coal supplies and result in high consumer satisfaction," he said.
The new mechanism is more scientific and accurate and ensures uniform price across the subsidiary companies of Coal India Limited for similar calorific value of coals, except for some adjustments being made for prices of Western Coalfields Limited, he said.
India may need to import 140 million tonne of coal in the next financial year, almost 25% that the current fiscal.
