PM Modi launches commercial coal mining auction, says 'freeing sector from decades of lockdown'
New Delhi/UNI: Launching the auction of commercial coal mining, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India has taken a 'major step today' to become self-reliant in energy and to make the coal sector free from 'decades of lockdown' and expressed confidence that it will turn the Covid-19 crisis into an opportunity, reducing its dependence on imports.
'The market for coal is now open. It will help all sectors. A major step taken today will make India self reliant in the energy sector. This event marks not only the implementation of reforms concerning one Coal Mining Sector but also marks the beginning of lakhs of employment opportunities for the youth,' Modi said.
He said that 'today we are not only launching the auction of commercial coal mining today but also freeing the coal sector from decades of lockdown'.
Modi launched the auction process of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining through video conference from here. It was part of the series of announcements made by the Government of India, under the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
Modi said the onset of commercial coal mining is a 'win-win situation for every stakeholder'. 'State governments will get more revenue and a huge population of the country will get employment. There will be a positive impact on every sector,' he said.
The Coal Ministry in association with FICCI launched the process for auction of these coal mines. A two-stage electronic auction process is being adopted for allocation of the coal mines.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi said that India will overcome the COVID -19 pandemic and the nation will turn this crisis into an opportunity. He said that this crisis has taught India the lesson of becoming Aatmanirbhar or Self-Reliant.
He said an Aatmanirbhar Bharat means reducing dependency on imports, and saving foreign currency on imports. 'It entails that India develop resources domestically so that the country does not have to rely on imports. It also means becoming the biggest exporters of the commodities that we now import.'
To achieve this, the Prime Minister said that each sector, each product, each service, should be kept in mind and worked holistically. He stressed on the irony that India, with the world’s fourth largest coal reserve and being the second largest producer, is also the second largest coal importer.
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