Mamata slams hike in coal prices

West Bengal Chief Minister Tuesday slammed the recent hike in coal prices and said that UPA-II's "anti-people decision" would affect the common man.

"Coal India has again increased the price of lower grade coal by an average 10 percent with effect from today (Tuesday). The decision is scandalous," said Banerjee on a social networking site.

"This anti-people decision of the UPA-II government will affect the common people as input costs of electricity, steel, cement and many other industries will shoot up. As a result, the burden of higher price will ultimately be passed on to the end consumers," she said.

"I condemn this arrogance of the UPA-II government... whose interests is this government serving? Who is this government working for?" read Banerjee's post on Facebook.

Coal India Ltd (CIL) Tuesday announced a major overhaul in prices across the 17 grades of its output. The state-owned monopoly increased prices of low grade coal by up to 11 percent and slashed prices of premium quality coal by 12 percent.