Coal reforms much needed, but statutory implementation hurdles remain

With the abundant inventory within India, there's a clear a need to reduce imports, especially thermal coal, imports of which were around 200 million tonnes last fiscal

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman launched a series of structural reforms across many vital sectors for the economy on Saturday, including coal and non-coal minerals, as part of the fourth tranche of the government’s economic package to fight the Covid-19 induced slowdown.

Among the key sectoral announcements, approval for commercial mining of coal on revenue share basis and with no eligibility conditions; Rs 50,000 crore investment for augmenting infrastructure related to coal evacuation; and an overall thrust on expanding domestic production and thereby reducing imports underlines the government’s mission of becoming a self-reliant country. On the non-coal side, 500 mineral blocks