"Coal mines were nationalized because of the shortcomings in the way it was run by private parties."In the light of the above statement, critically discuss the implications of the enabling provisions made in Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 towards commercial mining of coal in India.

The Coal Mines special provision act 2015 allows government to allocate mines on competitive bidding for optimum utilization of coal resources.
But, since there is no end use restriction on eligibility to participate in mining auctions, it opens up gap for commercial mining by private players. The mines owned by private players are always characterized with unscientific mining practices and exploitation of workers. To solve the problem government has proposed introduction of section 3A in Coal Mines Nationalization Act to enable joint ventures by central and state governments and their companies, and any other company, for mining operations in India “in any form, either for own consumption, sale or for any other purpose”, in accordance with a license granted by the state government concerned. This would meet the state requirements and state control over resources, and end the long monopoly of central government over coal resources.

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