Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman as a part of her fourth tranche of the Economic Package today announced that commercial mining of coal would be initiated, from a monopoly. She said that Coal Bed Methane extraction could also be tapped, through deposits.
“Rs 50,000 crores for evacuation infrastructure in Coal would be created,” she said. Nearly 50 blocks would be offered initially, and any party could bid for the same.
The government will move towards a revenue sharing mechanism instead of fixed pricing,
Currently, Coal India and its subsidiaries, have a virtual monopoly in coal mining. With the commercialisation of the same, there could be monopoly that is broken.
The move will also help reduce the dependence on imported coal.
