Modi govt brings in private firms to push ‘Make in India’; allows commercial coal mining
To push Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme ‘Make in India’, the cabinet has today passed an ordinance to remove the end-use restrictions on private coal mining. The move will thus allow commercial mining of coal by private companies by promulgating the Mineral Laws Amendment Ordinance 2020. The cabinet said that the Coal India Limited (CIL) has been allotted adequate coal blocks to ramp up production and has been provided with a production target of 1 billion tonnes by 2023-24. Coal accounts for a significant portion of raw materials in the industry. Especially in sectors such as steel, coal is extensively used as fuel to operate blast furnaces. With the current move, the government also aims to increase domestic coal production, bringing the steel prices down, which will help in boosting the infrastructure sector.
