The Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.

(SCCL) which was already in operation since 1945 and

which became a Government company under the control of Government of Andhra Pradesh in
1956 The coal industry in India was thus controlled by state-owned companies in the 1950s.
Today, SCCL is a joint undertaking of Government of Telangana and Government of India sharing
its equity in 51:49 ratio.

FIRST COAL MINING IN INDIA 1174Coal mining in India began in 1774 when John Sumner
and Suetonius Grant Heatly of the East India Company commenced commercial exploitation in
the Raniganj Coalfield along the Western bank of Damodar river

The introduction of steam locomotives in 1853 boosted demand, and coal production rose to an
annual average of 1 million metric tons (1.1 million short tons). India produced 6.12 million metric
tons (6.75 million short tons) of coal per year by 1900 and 18 million metric tons (20 million short
tons) per year by 1920. Coal production rose steadily over the next few decades, and was boosted
by demand caused by World War I. Production slumped in the interwar period, but rose to
30 million metric tons (33 million short tons) by 1946 largely as a result of World War II.

the Indians pioneered Indian involvement in coal mining from 1894. They broke the previous
monopolies held by British and other Europeans, establishing many collieries. Seth Khora Ramji
Chawda of Sinugra was the first Indian to break the British monopoly in the Jharia Coalfields.

The Indira Gandhi administration nationalized coal mining in phases - coking coal mines in 1971-
72 and non-coking coal mines in 1973. With the enactment of the Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act,
1973, all coal mines in India were nationalized on 1 May 1973.

This policy was reversed by the Narendra Modi administration four decades later. In March 2015,
the government permitted private companies to mine coal for use in their own cement, steel,
power or aluminium plants. The Coking Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1972and the Coal Mines
(Nationalization) Act, 1973were repealed on 8 January 2018. In the final step toward
denationalization, on 20 February 2018, the government permitted private firms to enter the
commercial coal mining industry. Under the new policy, mines will be auctioned to the firm offering
the highest per tonne price. The move broke the monopoly over commercial mining that state-
owned Coal India has enjoyed since nationalisation in 1973.

ndia has the fifth largest coal reserves in the world, and is the fourth largest producer of coal in the
world, producing 662.79 million metric tons (730.60 million short tons) in 2016-17. As on 31 March
2017, India had 315.14 billion metric tons (347.38 billion short tons) of the resource. The estimated
total reserves of lignite coal as on 31 March 2017 was 44.70 billion metric tons (49.27 billion short
tons). Due to high demand and poor average quality, India is forced to import high quality coal to
meet the requirements of steel plants. India's coal imports have risen from 49.79 million metric
tons (0.05488 billion short tons) in 2007-08 to 190.95 million metric tons (0.21049 billion short
tons) in 2016-17. India's coal exports rose from 1.63 million metric tons (1.80 million short tons) in
2007-08 to 2.44 million metric tons (2.69 million short tons) in 2012-13, but subsequently declined
to 1.77 million metric tons (1.95 million short tons) in 2016-17. Dhanbad city is the largest coal
producing city
In October, 1971, the Coking Coal Mines (Emergency Provisions) Act, 1971 provided for taking
over in public interest of the management of coking coal mines and coke oven plants pending
nationalization. This was followed by the Coking Coal Mines (Nationalization) Act, 1972 under
which the coking coal mines and the coke oven plants other than those with the Tata Iron & Steel
Company Limited and Indian Iron & Steel Company Limited, were nationalized on May 1, 1972
and brought under the Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a new Central Government
Undertaking.
Another enactment, namely the Coal Mines (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1973, extended
the right of the Government of India to take over the management of the coking and non-coking
coal mines in seven States including the coking coal mines taken over in 1971. This was followed
by the nationalization of all these mines on May 1, 1973 with the enactment of the Coal Mines
(Nationalization) Act, 1973 which determined the eligibility of coal mining in India.[12]