Pvt commercial miners may have to wait longer for coal blocks

It is not the most appropriate time to allocate coal blocks to private players for commercial mining, a senior government official said.
"We believe it is not the most appropriate time to go ahead for commercial mining. Necessary ground work has been done, we will take a look at the market situation," Coal Secretary Anil Swarup said when asked whether the Centre was planning to allow commercial mining by the private sector.
He was speaking on the sidelines of an interactive session with the Coal Consumers' Association of India.
"Our apprehension emanates from the last round of auction in which we did not get too many responses. Our understanding is, it happened perhaps due to improved condition of coal supply," Swarup said.

The Centre has decided to allocate eight to ten coal blocks to PSUs, be it state or central, for commercial mining once the Assembly elections are over.
"Due to elections, we have to wait for the process of seeking applications for the blocks," Swarup said.