Coal Ministry releases Eight Year Achievement Report of Coal Sector

What is the News?

The Union Minister of Coal has released a report titled “Reforms & Achievements of the Ministry of Coal Since 2014”. The report highlights the major achievements of the Ministry of Coal during the last eight years.

What are the key initiatives launched by the Ministry of Coal in the last eight years?

Coal Mining Surveillance & Management System (CMSMS)

Developed by: Ministry of Coal in coordination with Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar and Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY).

Purpose: To use space technology for curbing illegal coal mining activity in the coalfield areas of the country.

Khan-Prahari Mobile Application

Launched by: Ministry of Coal

Purpose: It is a tool for reporting any illegal coal mining incident through geotagged photographs as well as textual information by any individual.

Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2021

SHAKTI Scheme

The Government of India has introduced the SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala (Coal) Transparently in India)-2017 Scheme to provide coal linkages to the power plants which do not have linkage, thus helping the generators to get cheaper coal and thereby reducing the cost of generation.

Mission Coal Gasification

Mineral Laws (Amendment) Act, 2020

FDI Policy in Coal Mining

The government of India has allowed 100% FDI under an automatic route for the sale of coal, and coal mining activities including associated processing infrastructure. This includes coal washery, coal handling and separation (magnetic and non-magnetic) subject to the provisions of CM(SP) Act and MMDR Act as amended from time to time and other relevant Acts on the subject. 

Source: The post is based on the article “Coal Ministry releases Eight Year Achievement Report of Coal Sector” published in PIB on 17th June 2022.