Ministry of Coal: The Energy Base

Nodal agency for Coal & Lignite exploration and production.

1. Highlights

• Commercial Mining: shift from monopoly to private sector participation.
• Coal Gasification: target of 100 MT by 2030 to reduce imports.
• Star Rating: self-rating mechanism for mines based on compliance.

1a. Revised SHAKTI Policy 2025

⚡ Revised SHAKTI Policy for Coal Allocation to Power Sector

Cabinet (CCEA) approved a revised SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) policy, simplifying coal-linkage allocation from 8 existing paragraphs down to 2 windows:

• Window-I: coal at notified price, for Central/State Gencos via the existing nomination mechanism.
• Window-II: coal at a premium above notified price, via auction, open to any domestic or imported-coal-based power producer, for periods up to 25 years, with no PPA requirement — giving flexibility to sell electricity as they choose.

Aims: ease of doing business, catering to dynamic power-sector coal demand, encouraging IPP thermal capacity addition, reducing coal imports via domestic substitution, and preference to pithead power plants. No additional cost to coal companies.

2. Conclusion

Success lies in moving from "Monopoly" to "Efficiency-Saturated & Clean-Verified Coal Saturation."