The green wall that could be disrupting India's economic recovery

No foreign firm bid for any of the mining blocks; more overseas lenders are now demanding green commitments from Indian borrowers

In an anti-climax of sorts for India’s coal sector, no foreign company bid for any of the blocks the government had opened for commercial mining. The response from domestic miners too was tepid. Of the 38 blocks that went under the hammer, only 23 mines received bids. 

Companies are not keen to show coal on their portfolio. Despite the early days of recovery from the pandemic induced slowdown, Indian companies want to demonstrate they are turning green. One of the reasons is that Indian companies are borrowing abroad hugely. In 2019-20 it was almost 50 per cent of what they