India has the fourth-largest coal reserves and the country is the second-largest producer of coal.

In an effort to make India self-reliant in the energy sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining, via video conference. In his address, PM Modi said for decades, the country’s coal sector was entangled in a web of captive and non-captive and was excluded from the competition. Narendra Modi added that the commercial coal mining auction is an event in challenging times, which will increase transparency in the sector and make the country less reliant on imports. The Prime Minister further said that consumption and demand are rapidly approaching the pre-COVID levels, hence, there cannot be a better time for a new beginning.

India has the fourth-largest coal reserves and the country is the second-largest producer of coal. PM Modi underlined that India will get new resources from today’s step and the states will get higher revenue from coal sector liberalisation. Along with the commercialisation of coal mining, the government has also set a target to gasify around 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030. PM Modi said that he has been informed about 4 projects that have been identified for this and about Rs 20,000 crores will be invested for coal gasification projects.

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Speaking about the Atma Nirbhar Bharat mission of the government, PM Modi said that India will turn coronavirus crisis into an opportunity as it has taught India to be self-reliant and reduce dependence on imports. The Prime Minister also urged the industry players to look at each product and sector with a view to make it ourselves. He added if there are crores of consumers in India, there are also crores of producers in the country.

Meanwhile, PM Modi highlighted that major economic indicators show that the economy is quickly rebounding to the pre-Covid levels. Further, he once again reminded the industry that the government is standing with the industry and if the industry takes two steps, the government will take four steps.