An old tale with a new twist

Coal shortage in India had followed an annual cyclical pattern. This year that pattern has not played out

Over two-thirds of the mines of Coal India Ltd (CIL) are run by private operators. A normative cap set by the CIL, of 50 per cent to be run by mine development operators as they are called, has been breached a long time ago. One would have thought with such aggressive private sector participation, India’s coal crisis would be history. But as aluminium, paper and cement and other producers will tell, 2018 has become one of the worst years for coal shortage, and it shows no sign of abating.

So four years after the auction of coal mines, the rules for