After four years of enabling commercial mining and sale of coal in the new Coal Ordinance (Special Provisions), 2014, the cabinet on Feb 20, 2018 approved the methodology for auctioning coal mines to private companies. The government has allowed private players to commercially mine coal and sell it in the market without any restrictions on price and end-use, paving the way for the entry of giants such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Glencore, and Anglo American and ending the monopoly of public sector Coal India Ltd (CIL). They can sell within India or export it.
