Loading…
India's coal production in July 2026 reached 69.75 MT provisional, a 7.51 per cent rise over the 64.88 MT of July 2025, while dispatch grew 17.34 per cent to 86.33 MT.
The share of captive and commercial blocks in national coal production has risen from 10.9 per cent in FY 2021-22 to 20.2 per cent in FY 2025-26, and these blocks crossed 200 MT for the first time at about 210.46 MT.
Since commercial coal mining was launched on 18 June 2020, 141 coal mines have been auctioned across 14 rounds with a combined peak rated capacity of 366.35 MT a year; 123 went to private players and 44 successful bidders had never mined coal before.
The average revenue share discovered in these auctions is 24.17 per cent, six times the 4 per cent floor, and the government's premium revenue rose from Rs 461 crore in FY 2014-15 to Rs 5,553 crore in FY 2025-26.
Coal meets close to 55 per cent of India's primary energy needs and fuels more than 70 per cent of its electricity; India holds the world's fifth largest coal resource, about 4,00,715 MT, and is the second largest producer and consumer.
Open coal mining beyond the public sector and beyond captive use, allowing coal to be sold to any consumer in any sector at market-determined prices
Key: No end-use restriction and no bar on utilisation; prior mining experience is not required; joint ventures and consortia may bid; 100 per cent FDI is allowed through the automatic route; every block since June 2020 has been awarded through open auction
Replace the earlier fixed charge per tonne so that the government's return moves with the real market value of coal
Key: The bidder quotes a percentage of revenue payable to the Government, indexed to the National Coal Index. The NCI has a base year of FY 2017-18, combines notified, auction and import prices in five sub-indices (three non-coking, two coking), was designed by the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, and is released monthly by the Ministry of Coal
Allocate coal linkages to the power sector transparently through auction and defined methodology, so that the benefit of linkage coal passes to consumers
Key: Issued by the Ministry of Coal on 22 May 2017, replacing the earlier Letter of Assurance and Fuel Supply Agreement regime; a revised SHAKTI policy was approved by the Cabinet in 2025
Enacted after the Supreme Court cancelled 204 of the 218 blocks allocated between 1993 and 2012, it placed re-allocation on a statutory, auction-based footing. Ten tranches of auction and nine of allotment under it restored 76 coal mines to productive use between 2015 and 2020
Amended the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and the MMDR Act, 1957 to remove the end-use restriction on eligible bidders for Schedule II and Schedule III coal mines and to liberalise entry, opening the door to commercial mining and 100 per cent FDI through the automatic route
The parent statute regulating the mining sector, including the grant of mineral concessions; it is the framework the coal-specific laws sit within and which the 2020 amendment altered
Nodal ministry for exploration, development and regulation of coal and lignite reserves, for the auction of coal blocks and for the National Coal Index
The dominant public sector producer, incorporated in 1975 following nationalisation of the coal sector; it produced 50.35 MT of the July 2026 output and dispatched 63.67 MT. It is a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Coal
Designed the concept, structure and representative prices of the National Coal Index that determines the government's revenue share from commercially auctioned mines
Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act enacted as the parent mining statute
Coal India Limited incorporated following nationalisation of the coal sector
Supreme Court cancels 204 of 218 coal blocks allocated between 1993 and 2012; first auction tranche launched in December
Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act places re-allocation on a statutory auction footing
SHAKTI policy issued for transparent allocation of coal linkages to the power sector
Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act removes end-use restrictions; commercial coal mining formally launched on 18 June 2020
National coal production crosses one billion tonnes in two consecutive years - 1047.52 MT and 1040.08 MT
Monthly production 69.75 MT, up 7.51 per cent; dispatch 86.33 MT, up 17.34 per cent
Every figure in this release is framed against import dependence. Coal supplies over 70 per cent of India's electricity, so domestic production growth is an import-bill and current-account question as much as a mining one
The 2014 coal block judgment is the standard example of a court decision forcing a whole allocation regime to be rebuilt - alongside the 2G spectrum case - and is a favourite GS Paper 2 and Paper 3 crossover
Auction premium and revenue share accrue to producing States as well as the Centre, tying coal reform to the wider question of how mineral wealth is shared between the Union and mineral-bearing States
Coal capacity is expanding at the same time as solar - India added 44.61 GW of solar in FY 2025-26 - which is the practical shape of a 'transition' that runs both fuels together rather than swapping one for the other
GS Paper 3 > Infrastructure: Energy; Changes in Industrial Policy and their Effects
General Awareness > Indian Economy and Static GK
General Awareness > Economy and Government Policy
Coal sector reform and monthly production data recur in economy sections across UPSC, SSC and banking exams
Mining under which the successful bidder may sell coal to any consumer in any sector at market-determined prices, with no captive end-use restriction; launched 18 June 2020
A block whose coal must be used in the allottee's own specified end-use plant, as opposed to being sold on the open market
A monthly price index with base year FY 2017-18, combining notified, auction and import prices across five sub-indices, used to compute the revenue share payable by commercial miners
The clearance a block must obtain before it can begin production; 23 commercial mines had obtained it as of FY 2025-26
The maximum annual output a mine is designed for; the 141 blocks auctioned commercially total 366.35 MT per annum