What happened (latest official claims)
The Government of India, through the Ministry of Coal, stated that coal sector reforms over the last five years have been designed to make coal allocation and mining more transparent, efficient, and “scientific” in execution. The central shift is from coal allotment to coal allocation through open competitive auction, along with steps to modernise mining and improve logistics and monitoring systems.
Background and earlier position (how coal allocation and mining worked)
Coal availability for consumers in India historically relied heavily on linkage-based allocation systems and administrative processes. Many of these allocations were not fully market-determined, which can reduce price discovery and competition. Separately, mine operations and monitoring relied more on manual or fragmented reporting, while logistics for moving coal across rail, road, coastal shipping, and inland waterways often faced coordination costs.
What changed now (auction, pricing, governance processes)
The Ministry of Coal highlighted multiple reforms. The major themes are auction-based allocation, transparent pricing, single-window approaches, and policy simplifications for linkage and non-regulated sectors.