End of govt monopoly; Commercial mining in coal sector to be introduced

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced commercial mining of coal by the private sector, ending government monopoly on the sector.

In her fourth tranche of the economic package, she said commercial mining will be done on revenue sharing mechanism instead of the regime of fixed rupee/tonne. Nearly 50 blocks will be offered for bidding, she said.

This is being done to reduce import of substitutable coal and increase self-reliance in coal production.

Also, the government will invest Rs 50,000 crore for building evacuation infrastructure.

Coal gasification and liquefication will be incentivised through rebate in revenue sharing, she said adding coal bed methane (CBM) production would also be encouraged.