New Delhi: Senior Indian government officials tasked by the Prime Minister with reviewing energy security are recommending the break-up of the country's coal monopoly, Coal India Ltd, within a year.
In a presentation seen by Reuters, they say Coal India — the world's largest coal miner — would be more competitive and efficient if it was divided into seven companies.
The proposal, dated November 30, is expected to be presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon, three government officials with direct knowledge of the situation said. They declined to be identified because the information has not been publicly released.
It is unclear whether the proposal will lead to the breakup of Coal India, which has a stock market capitalisation of $28 billion.
Calls to a Coal India spokesman went unanswered.
A source close to power and coal minister, Piyush Goyal, said the ministry would review its stand on Coal India depending on what the prime minister says.
Coal India enjoys a monopoly but critics say it is bloated and inefficient. Its output-per-man shift is estimated at one-eighth of Peabody Energy, the world's largest private coal producer that filed for bankruptcy protection this year.
Modi had been exploring a breakup of Coal India even before taking office, Reuters reported in 2014, but the government put the idea on the back burner following protests by powerful worker unions.
A new proposal to break up the monopoly is likely to be met again with strong resistance from unions.
In late October, Modi set up 10 groups of senior bureaucrats to "undertake a critical review of the work done by the union government in the respective sectors that they will be studying".
The proposal to break up Coal India comes from one of these groups - nine top bureaucrats, including from the ministries of coal, power, oil and mines. They were asked to come up with policy proposals to promote energy security and the environment.
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