Coal ministry for market-linked prices
The coal ministry today favoured market-linked prices for coal, but said no decision on increasing domestic coal prices had been taken.
“In principle, we agree to all the recommendations made by the Plan panel including market-linked prices for coal. But, no decision on price increase has been taken yet,” Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters here.
The Planning Commission had recently recommended leaving the coal prices to the market and allowing free trade of coal nationally and internationally.
Although coal prices were deregulated in 2000, the rates are fixed by coal PSUs under the guidance of the coal ministry.
The country’s largest coal producer Coal India Ltd (CIL) has been demanding an increase in coal prices on account of the wage revision of its employees.
Jaiswal said, the “government is trying to develop a mechanism to reduce the burden on CIL on account of upward wage-revision of its employees”.