Currently, only Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, and its smaller sister PSU Singareni Collieries besides mining agencies of state government are allowed commercial coal mining.
Trade unions on Tuesday began a five-day coal industry strike, terming it as the biggest industrial action for any sector since 1977.
The Coal Ministry on Monday received a total 69 applications from various PSUs
The current power crisis is mainly on account of sharp decline in electricity generation from different fuel sources and not due to non-availability of domestic coal, a top official said on Sunday. The above statement assumes significance in the wake of reports of many states, including Maharashtra, facing power outages due to shortage of coal. In an interview to PTI, Coal Secretary A K Jain attributed the low coal stocks at power plants to several factors such as heightened power demand due to the boom in the economy post COVID-19, early arrival of summer, rise in the price of gas and imported coal and sharp fall in electricity generation by coastal thermal power plants.
Over 75 per cent of India's daily coal output has been hit as the five-day strike by workers of state-run miners entered the second day on Wednesday, raising fears of disruption in power supplies.
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