The coal ministry is preparing plans for new projects which will be submitted to the Cabinet in a month, according to Union minister of state for coal Santosh Bagrodia.
Talking to mediapersons here, Bagrodia said though several projects were in the pipeline, the ministry was working on more projects to make the country self-sufficient in coal.
He [...]

India’s coal mining sector must eventually open up to allow foreign companies to own equity stakes if much-needed domestic production is to rise as fast as possible, state-run MMTC Chairman Sanjiv Bhatra told Reuters on Monday.
“For India as a whole there is no alternative but to open up to foreign investments through privatisation,” he [...]

India approved the auction of 39 coal blocks to state-run and private power companies to meet the demand for power.
The blocks would be awarded to government-controlled National Thermal Power Corp., Tata Power, Essar and Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.
“The (coal) ministry has cleared the allocation of 39 coal blocks for various government-owned and private [...]

India says it is contemplating a new coal distribution policy that would be based on the requirements of regulated and non-regulated sectors to give a boost to small- and medium-sized industries.
The Coal Ministry said the new policy would be put in place within a month of its approval. The ministry set up an expert [...]

With the Energy Coordination Committee expressing concern on inadequate output by Coal India Limited (CIL), the Coal Ministry has formed a high-level panel to empower the PSU to enable it meet requirements of the core sectors.
“The Coal Ministry has formed a high-level committee to be headed by Coal Secretary to suggest steps to ramp up [...]

Jharkhand is unhappy with the allocation of coal blocks by the union coal ministry and officials say the state’s industries have been completely neglected.
M.K. Mandal, Jharkhand’s chief secretary, is learnt to have written a letter to the ministry expressing dissatisfaction over the allocation.
‘The coal ministry overlooked the state government’s recommendation and allocated nearly half [...]

The Coal Ministry is preparing a cabinet note, which says that coal blocks will now go by competitive bidding and not through the government’s screening process.
The proposal is aimed to amend the mines and mineral development act in the coming session.
There are 120 non-coking coal blocks up for grabs over the next two years. They [...]