 "SBI plans policy to lend to coal miners ahead of landmark auctions")
State Bank of India is creating a policy to lend to coal miners before landmark auctions that would end decades of state monopoly on the fuel, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
Long-term offtake contracts assuring demand will be central to any lending decision, the person said, asking not to be identified before terms are finalised. The nation’s biggest bank would prefer a loan tenor closer to five years, the person added.
The planned policy suggests SBI is open to providing some of the financing required to put 41 coal mines with a combined annual production capacity
