At last, full-fledged private coal mining in India is in the offing.
The Coal Ministry is crafting a blueprint for allowing commercial coal mining in India. Commercial coal mining refers to extraction of coal from mines, especially by private players, and the produce is intended for any sector, without any restriction on end-use. The private miners will be free to decide their production matters, pricing issues and marketing methodologies.
Ever since nationalization of the coal industry in the country in 1973, the industry has been a monopoly of the state-run Coal India Limited (CIL). But, with commercial coal mining in the offing, the existing monopoly of CIL will be slackened, and the market will become competitive.
In a recent development in the Coal Ministry in the implied context, a preliminary decision was taken to allow private players to bid for mines with about 100 MnT of coal reserves in the initial phase of auctions in respect to commercial coal mining.
The Coal Ministry is expected to kick start commercial coal mining within FY18.
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