The coal ministry expects to finalise the rules relating to setting up a coal exchange by November.

The government plans to establish a coal trading exchange, which will serve as a digital marketplace to enable trading and price discovery of coal.

Such an exchange is proposed to be operated under the supervision of the Coal Controller Organisation and allow commercial and public sector mines to sell coal to a larger base.

In September, the ministry had floated a consultation paper on the rules related to the coal exchange. Once the rules come into effect, exchange operators can seek authorisation from the Coal Controller for setting up an exchange.

India already has companies like the Indian Energy Exchange and the Power Exchange of India that operate electricity exchanges.

“There has been good progress made on setting up the exchange. We have put out a draft paper, and views have come in. We expect to finalise the rules by the end of November,” said coal secretary Vikram Dev Dutt on the sidelines of the Asian Mining Congress organised by the Mining, Geological & Metallurgical Institute of India on Thursday.

Coal production in the country has already breached the 1-billion-tonne mark in 2024-25 and is likely to grow beyond 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030, despite the rising share of renewables in India’s energy mix.

The government envisages the coal sales scenario to undergo a major change from the existing mechanisms of coal sales channels, necessitating a major market reform backed by a regulatory mechanism.

Coal gasification

Coal India chairman PM Prasad said significant progress has been made on coal gasification, and the miner has formed a joint venture with BHEL. “We are pretty sure our first coal gasification plant may come within 5 years,” Prasad said.

The government has set a target of 100 million tonnes of coal gasification by 2030, and it is seen as a move to reduce import dependency on natural gas, methanol and ammonia.