Now Reading: Coal Ministry reforms overruled internal criticism, documents show
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Coal Ministry reforms overruled internal criticism, documents show
The Union Coal Ministry amended rules in late 2025 to let mining company boards approve the opening of mines and seams, removing prior permission from the Coal Controller’s Organisation. It also replaced…
The Story in Brief
The Union Coal Ministry amended rules in late 2025 to let mining company boards approve the opening of mines and seams, removing prior permission from the Coal Controller’s Organisation. It also replaced a government-appointed expert committee that vetted Geological Reports with a system allowing private Accredited Prospecting Agencies to approve reports prepared by other agencies.
Frontline reports that internal officials warned the new system could allow underreporting of coal reserves and hurt public revenue. Minutes reviewed by the magazine record errors in reports prepared for Adani and Vedanta group companies, including an underreported resource estimate for the Barra coal block. Companies from the Adani, Tata and C.K. Birla groups benefited from the changes, which the ministry said would shorten approval timelines.
The Indian Opinion
The easy narrative is that faster approvals automatically mean reform, while the opposing claim is that every private mining company is poised to steal coal. Neither is established by this account. The documented concern is narrower and serious: private agencies may have incentives to certify flawed reserve estimates, while the old committee also created delays. The test is whether future audits reconcile approved Geological Reports with actual recoverable reserves and government revenue, especially in the Barra block.
Source: frontline.thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
