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Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy has written to the Telangana government, flagging reports that 40 lakh tonnes of coal worth about Rs 1,600 crore is missing and urging an urgent inquiry to ascertain the facts and safeguards at Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), already strained by unpaid dues of over Rs 51,500 crore. In a letter dated June 10, 2026, to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the Union Minister said that "a news item published across various newspapers relating to the disappearance of 40 lakh tonnes of coal worth Rs 1600 crore, resulting in significant financial loss to the company. "Given SCCL's current financial position due to unpaid dues exceeding Rs 51, 500 crore from the Telangana government, these allegations could further hamper the financial stability of SCCL." The Singareni Collieries Company Ltd SCCL) is jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and the Centre on a 51:49 equity basis. Reddy said that such allegations if not examined with ...
The government on Tuesday said it has published rules for setting up coal exchanges, a move aimed at bringing transparency and efficiency to the country's coal trading ecosystem and modernising the supply chain. Coal exchanges are expected to enable transparent, market-driven price discovery, boost efficiency and give coal producers - including commercial and captive miners - easier access to a wider pool of buyers. Public sector players can also use the platform to increase market participation. "The recently enacted Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2025 introduced the concept of a mineral exchange and empowered the central government to promote transparent and efficient trading of minerals, including coal and its processed forms. In pursuance of the above, the Coal Exchange Rules, 2026 have been published by the Ministry of Coal in the Official Gazette on June 4," the coal ministry said in a statement. The ministry has already designated the Coal ...
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday said that the Centre has adequate coal reserves to meet the requirements of power generation for 80 days. Speaking to reporters about the achievements of the NDA government since 2014, Reddy also said that exploration has begun in the critical mineral blocks acquired in Argentina, and production should commence as early as possible. "Earlier, there used to be a shortage of coal. Now, the Government of India has coal reserves sufficient for 80 days of power generation. Since the monsoon season has begun, coal production could face disruptions due to heavy rainfall," the union coal and mines minister told reporters here. "Following the directives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have maintained coal reserves for 80 days," he added. Highlighting the importance of critical minerals, Reddy said that the Centre is identifying critical mineral reserves and undertaking exploration activities. He added that auctions have also begun in areas where
State-owned Coal India plans to set up coal-to-syngas production units either at pithead locations or adjacent to user industries such as fertiliser units, direct-reduced iron and gas-based power plants amid disruption in gas supplies due to the West Asia conflict, sources said. Coal India Ltd (CIL), which accounts for over 80 per cent of domestic coal output, has already initiated steps to develop such coal-to-syngas facilities. In line with the National Mission on Coal Gasification and the government's vision to enhance domestic chemical and feedstock security, CIL intends to set up coal-to-syn-gas facilities to cater to the market demand for syn-gas in gas-based power plants/DRI or fertiliser plants, sources said. The company plans to develop such facilities either on Build-Own-Operate (BOO) or Build-Operate-Maintain (BOM) basis, with syngas to be produced from coal by developers or consortia, they said. Syngas serves as a versatile feedstock for the production of clean fuels, .
The Cabinet is likely to approve soon a Rs 37,500 crore incentive scheme to promote coal gasification projects, aimed at boosting clean energy production and reducing import dependence, sources said. The coal ministry has already prepared a Cabinet note on the scheme to promote coal gasification projects, with a financial outlay of Rs 37,500 crore, they said. The proposed scheme is aimed at accelerating surface coal and lignite gasification projects across the country, promoting self reliance by reducing import dependence on critical commodities such as LNG, urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonia, coking coal via DRI, methanol and DME, while enabling enhanced utilisation of domestic coal and lignite resources for fuels and chemicals production, and supporting the national target of 100 million tonnes coal gasification capacity by 2030. This is a unified scheme with no categories, and the maximum financial assistance for a single project is Rs 3,000 crore, they said. In the earlier financi
State-owned Coal India Limited is absorbing rising input costs to protect consumers from higher coal prices, even as expenses for key inputs, such as explosives and industrial diesel, have surged sharply following the West Asia conflict. The company said it has chosen not to pass on the increase, warning that doing so could trigger a cascading impact across sectors reliant on coal. It is also compensating contractors operating in its mines for higher diesel costs. Prices of ammonium nitrate - a key component accounting for about 60 per cent of explosives used in opencast mining - have risen 44 per cent to Rs 72,750 per tonne as of April 1 from pre-war levels. This has pushed up the average cost of explosives by around 26 per cent to nearly Rs 49,800 per tonne by end-March. Coal India's subsidiaries consume about 0.9 million tonnes of explosives annually. This entire cost is being absorbed by Coal India, the company said. Diesel prices have also surged, rising roughly 54 per cent t