Ahead of the second meeting of a ministerial panel to give
final shape to the Coal Regulatory Authority Bill on Tuesday, the coal ministry
has proposed that coal producers can determine the price of the commodity.
However, the proposed coal regulator should decide the methodology to fix
prices to check abuse of monopoly by any coal producer, the ministry said.
State-owned Coal India Ltd (CIL) accounts nearly 80 per cent
of the domestic coal production to 530 million tons.
Ministry of coal has amended the provisions on price
regulation for determining the price of coal on a rational and scientific
basis, leaving the responsibility of fixing prices to coal producers.
Further, coal ministry has also rolled back a crucial
proposal to give power of authorization in grant of leases to the regulator.
“The regulator will only stipulate, with government
approval, the principles and methodology for price determination in a more
rational manner,” sources said.
Independent regulation of the coal sector is aimed at
ensuring competitiveness of market sales, fixing guidelines for price revision
and increasing transparency in allocation of reserves. In May, the Union
Cabinet had discussed the proposal to set up the coal regulator and asked to
set up a Group of Ministers (GOM) to give a final shape to the Coal Regulatory
Authority Bill.
Source: Business Standard
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