Coal news and updates

Govt mulls permitting sale of surplus coal from captive blocks

January 24: The Government of India is considering "some" proposals for permitting sale of surplus coal from captive blocks in order to encourage the miners to produce more.

"This is an important issue. By allowing captive blocks to expand their production, we could reduce the need to import coal at much higher prices," Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said in an exclusive interview to Coal Insights, a sister publication of India Coal Market Watch (ICMW), just before leaving for Davos to attend the World Economic Forum.

"Increased domestic production from captive blocks would, therefore, be a gain for the economy," he said.

Incidentally, only 38 of the allotted 171 coal blocks are currently in operation, according to information available with ICMW.

He, however, said that legally, it (allowing captive blocks to sell surplus coal) can only be done through some special arrangement, perhaps by selling to Coal India Ltd (CIL), which would include reasonable pricing.

"We are considering some proposals along these lines," Ahluwalia said.