State coal giant plans bulk exports for first time

Major player: A worker pushes his bicycle under a line of cable trolleys transporting coal in Uttar Pradesh. India is the second largest producer, consumer and importer of coal. — AFP

MUMBAI: Coal India Ltd, the world’s largest coal miner, plans to directly export output to neighbouring countries, according to sources and documents seen by Reuters, after decades of exclusively supplying domestic consumers.

The state-run company plans to export to Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, according to a draft policy sent to the secretary of India’s coal ministry and reviewed by Reuters, as a part of India’s “neighbourhood first” policy, which seeks to counter China’s growing economic influence in South Asia.