Govt to allot 16 coal mines to PSUs

Government will allot 16 coal mines to Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for commercial mining. Of these 16 blocks earmarked for State PSUs for sale of coal, five mines are in Madhya Pradesh, three in Telangana, two blocks each in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, and one each in Odisha and West Bengal. 

The blocks that have been earmarked for allocation to PSUs include Shankarpur Bhatgaon II Extension and Madanpur South in Chhattisgarh, Patal East and Mednirai in Jharkhand, Dahegaon-Makard hokra- IV and Kosar Dongergaon in Maharashtra, Baitarni West



in Odisha, Penagaddppa, Anesttipali and Punkula-Chilka in Telangana, Gourangdih ABC in West Bengal, Sahapur East and Sahapur West. A Coal Ministry order said, Suliyari, Dongri Tal-II and Marki Barka mine in Madhya Pradesh are the other mines in the list.

For the first time in over 40 years, the government is throwing open the coal sector for commercial mining, which is being undertaken by the central PSU Coal India. The decision to open up coal sector is in line with the government's target of doubling coal production to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020.