India is reportedly eying the potential to establish a coal trading exchange to buy and sell domestically produced coal as output from privately held mines in the country grows.
According to a Reuters report, the India federal government is now seeking comments on the proposal.
Coal mining was first opened up to private companies after 2020, ending what had been previously been a monopoly held by state-owned miner Coal India. Privatised mines, the news outlet said, are expected to produce 350-400 million metric tons of coal by 2030.
“In the scenario of increased availability of domestic coal in the country, there is a necessity to introduce further reforms in the coal sector with focus on promoting competitive markets for sale of coal,” the federal coal ministry said in a notice earlier this month, per Reuters.
Coal India currently accounts for about three quarters of over 1 billion tonnes of coal mined. India is also the world’s second largest market outside of China.
Reuters noted that the proposed exchange will be a marketplace for commercial miners and self-miners to sell surplus coal alongside public sector companies including Coal India in what the news service called a “many-to-many” platform.
Source: India proposes to set up trading exchange for domestic coal