Coal minister Reddy urges stakeholders to reduce imports, achieve self-reliance

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy on Wednesday urged all stakeholders, including the private sector and state governments, to forge strong partnerships to attain self-reliance in coal production and significantly reduce imports.

The statement assumes significance in the wake of the country's ongoing push to secure energy supplies amid rising demand from power, steel, and cement sectors.

During the launch of India Chapter of FutureCoal, the global alliance for sustainable coal, the minister also spoke about the critical role of the coal sector in shaping India's growth story.

Emphasising the need for sustainability and energy transition, he highlighted the reforms being undertaken by the coal ministry.

He said that these transformative reforms include investments in coal gasification and first-mile connectivity for fully mechanised mining-to-siding operations among others.

These reforms resulted in the auction of 136 commercial coal blocks, reduction in wagon loading time from 3.5 hours to one hour and generation of over 4 lakh employment opportunities, he said. PTI SID MR MR