Coal news and updates

The Ministry of Coal, has circulated a Discussion Paper on the subject seeking views from public and stake holders. The Ministry deserves compliments for recognizing and making provisions for a few key enablers for successful commercial mining. Important among these are:

freedom of pricing of coal produced for commercial sale,

not stipulating end use restriction,

allowing large size mines of 30 mtpa capacity to attract competent miners,

allowing flexibility to manage production depending on market scenario, &

stipulating a minimum of 25 mcm per annum of excavation & handling as eligibility criteria to keep away non serious players or those with inadequate experience.

The stated purpose for pursuing commercial mining of coal has been mentioned as the need to further augment coal production beyond the target of 1 bn tonne in 2020 set by Coal India Ltd plus the enhanced production expected from the coal blocks allotted or auctioned for captive end use. For CIL to reach 1 bn tonne in 2020 from the actual production of 554 m tonne in 2017, the CAGR required is 21.7%. The best achieved by CIL so far was 8.9% in 2015-16 and the average over the last 3 years (2015-17) is 6.3%. Also, the growth in coal production from the captive end user segment is much lower than targeted rate.

Source: Economic TImes