Fueling India

Coal retains its position as the pre-eminent fuel in India’s energy basket. Shares of India's and world's largest coal miner Coal India Ltd were up 6 per cent on hope that the public sector behemoth will get a filip from the entry of private companies in coal mining. The government hopes to increase production and bridge the huge gap between demand and supply of the crucial raw material. Finance Minister P Chidambram said that the government will encourage Public Private Partnership (PPP) to enhance the coal production. India already imports about 100 million tons of coal every year and this is expected to increase to 185 million tons by 2017. Coal India has been struggling to increase its production due to delays in getting regulatory clearances to develop more mines.

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