Consultative Committee of Ministry of Coal Discusses Commercial Coal Mining Reforms and Leveraging Private Sector Participation

The Consultative Committee of MPs attached to the Ministry of Coal met on 6 August 2026, chaired by Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy. The Minister noted that 14 rounds of commercial coal mine auctions have been completed and the 15th is underway, asserting that these auctions have made the sector more competitive and efficient. Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt said captive and commercial mines contributed about 20 % of India’s coal output in the last financial year and helped achieve a cumulative 1 billion tonne production over the previous two years. Ongoing reforms have cut the operationalisation time for fully explored blocks from 51 to 40 months and for partially explored blocks from 66 to 52 months.