The Coal Ministry of the Government of India has taken a step further to actuate the breaking of the 41-year old tradition in the coal industry of the country.
The ministry has earmarked 10 mines for auctioning in the so called commercial coal mining, the first of its kind in India, to be made functional within this fiscal.
Commercial coal mining is the process in which private miners are allowed to participate in coal mining and the produce could be sold to any sector, without any pricing restrictions. The private players are free to decide their own strategic as well as pricing matters.
In the first phase of the commercial coal mining process, four coal mines in Odisha– Chendipada, Chendipada-II, Mahanadi and Machhakata; Four mines in Chhattisgarh– Shankarpur Bhatgaon II Extension, Durgapur II/Taraimar, Durgapur II/Sariya, Madanpur (North); and two mines in Madhya Pradesh–(Dongri Tal-II) and Jharkhand (Mednirai); will be put into auction.
However, the ministry is yet to decide upon the time to start the commercial mining process, which is expected to contribute 500 MnT to the 1.5 BnT coal production set for 2020.
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