The Regulatory Paradox: - India’s Coal Story

Abstract

Energy sector of any nation plays a very important role in the economic development of the country. In the energy mix of India, coal is indispensably placed. With Coal India limited (CIL), a public sector monopoly as the world’s largest coal producing company, the quest for the most viable but most polluting fuel, feeding the population of 1.4 billion seems never ending.

The coal sector of our country at present is undergoing a transition and is in an ironical situation where the nation has promised the world to phase down coal but at the same time has opened the sector for commercial mining and requires more investment. At present the coal sector is regulated by the Office of Coal Controller, Ministry of Coal which is in a very close nexus with CIL which has been dominating the sector including the coal production, supply and price. The sector is plagued with a number of regulatory and competition issues which requires immediate attention for a fair play of both public as well as private sector. Reformation in the regulatory regime is the need of the hour in order to smoothly execute the commercialization policy along with the transition from a coal based economy to green economy.