Coal India: Black Gold
Coal mining in India has a long history—it started back in the 18th century when small private companies began digging for coal. But mining was scattered, unorganized, and production was limited. As India moved toward industrialization and the demand for electricity kept growing, coal became the backbone of progress. Realizing the importance of energy security, the Government of India decided to step in. In the early 1970s, it nationalized the coal mines to bring them under one umbrella. The idea was simple: improve efficiency, boost production, and make sure power plants had a steady supply of coal. This move eventually gave birth to Coal India Limited (CIL) in 1975, a state-owned company that went on to become the world’s largest coal producer. CIL operates through 85 mining areas spread over eight provincial states of India. CIL has 310 working mines of which 129 are underground, 168 opencast and 13 mixed mines. CIL further operates 13 coal washeries. The Company pr...