Indian coal mines that produce coal solely for their own use, known as “captive mines” will now be allowed to sell 50% of their annual output in the open market, the government said on Tuesday.
“Availability of additional coal will ease pressure on power plants and will also aid in import substitution of coal,” the coal ministry said in a statement.
The move comes as India’s coal-fired utilities face an acute fuel shortage with inventories falling to multi-year lows.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; editing by Jason Neely)