Going the whole hog in ushering in unrestricted commercial terms in India’s long-state-dominated coal mining business, the government on Saturday sought to buttress the policy liberalisation steps announced for the sector over the past couple of years, with a host of additional incentives for potential Indian and foreign investors.
According to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, not just fully explored coal blocks, but even partially explored ones will now be auctioned, and 50 assets will go under the hammer soon. Also, early production and in situ coal gasification (syngas) and liquefaction projects will be incentivised through rebates in revenue-share. Private investors could also seek to grab Coal Bed Methane (CBM) extraction rights for even the mines owned by public sector Coal India.
