Liberating coal sector from decades of 'lockdown', says PM Modi as he kicks off commercial mining

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday launched the auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining and said he was liberating the sector from decades of “lockdown” with a view to turn the country into an exporter of coal from being an importer at present.

The commercial mining of coal is expected to bring Rs 33,000 crore of capital investment in the country over the next five to seven years.

"The market for coal is now open. It will help all sectors. It will promote competition, investment, participation and technology,” Modi said adding, the reforms in the coal sector will have a positive impact on many other sectors such as power, steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers.

India has the fourth-largest coal reserves in the world and it is the second-largest producer of coal. The country still imports nearly 200 million tonnes (MT) of coal every year. Last year, India imported 235 MT coal valued at Rs 1.70 lakh crore.

The prime minister said, India, which should have been the largest coal exporter of the world, has been mired in policy gridlock.

"For decades, the country's coal sector was entangled in a web of captive and non-captive definition. It was excluded from the competition, there was a big problem of transparency. After 2014, several steps were taken to change this situation. Coal sector got strengthened due to steps taken," PM Modi said.

He said Rs 20,000 crore investment will be made in four coal gasification projects to convert vast resources in environment-friendly fuel.

“We have set a target to gasify around 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030. I have been told that four projects have been identified for this,” he said.