Commercial mining in coal sector will be introduced, govt monopoly will be removed: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced that commercial mining in the coal sector will be introduced and govt monopoly will be removed. Addressing the nation, Sitharaman asserted that revenue sharing mechanism will be offered for commercial mining of coal instead of the regime of fixed rupees/tonne. 

In her fourth tranche of the economic package, the Finance Minister said that Rs 50,000 crore will be spent by the government for the evacuation of mined coal.

Nirmala Sitharaman says structural reforms will be the focus of the fourth tranche of eco stimulus package with the aim to boost growth, create jobs. This is being done to reduce import of substitutable coal and increase self-reliance in coal production.

Coal gasification and liquefication will be incentivised through rebate in revenue sharing, she said adding coal bed methane (CBM) production would also be encouraged. Structural improvements will be made in the mining and mineral sector, 500 mining blocks will be an open and transparent auction, There will be provision for joint auction in the area of bauxite and coal.

Sitharaman said structural reforms will be the focus of the fourth tranche of economic stimulus package with an aim to boost growth and create jobs. The focus of the fourth stimulus would be coal, minerals, defence production, civil aviation sector, power distribution companies in Union Territories, space sector and atomic energy sector, she said.

She said steps taken during the recent past include fast track investment clearance through an empowered group of secretaries.
Project development cell has been set up in each ministry to prepare investable projects and coordinate with investors and central/state government.

States are being ranked on investment attractiveness to compete for new investments, she said adding incentive schemes for the promotion of new champion sectors will be launched in sectors such as solar PV manufacturing and advanced cell battery storage. As many as 3,376 industrial parts/estates/SEZs in 5 lakh hectares have been mapped on Industrial Information System (IIS). All industrial parks will be ranked in 2020-21, she said.