DENATIONALISATION OF COAL

Coal is one of the biggest naturally occurring nonrenewable source of energy and power. 70% of India’s power is generated from this valuable cluster of carbon. The amount of coal reserve that a country has , plays a vital role in its development. The total volume of coal reserves in India is about 300 billion tonnes where Jharkhand being the highest contributor. Though coal yields higher amount of power, the optimum use of it is a biggest challenge. Some of ways buy which it can be utilized efficiently could be

·         Using high degree purification techniques:

chemical looping is one of the technique in which coal doesn’t react with air. Instead, it is exposed to oxygen-bearing materials such as iron oxide. The coal reacts with these materials and the energy bound up in coal breaks the bond between the oxygen and the iron. The reaction produces nearly pure carbon dioxide gas and iron metal (along with the mineral wüstite). Electricity is generated when the iron is moved out of the reaction chamber and is essentially burned—that is, allowed to react with oxygen in air. This releases heat to produce steam.

·        Cutting edge technologies can be used while mining which reduces the level of degradation caused to the environment.

·        The mining activities can be leased by bidding or auction in a transparent manner so that the companies follow standard procedures in land acquisition process and pollution control methods.

·        Effective usage of byproducts and reducing wastage increases the yield .

Biggest challenges in coal mining are as follows:

·         High level of soil degradation and over exploitation of water resources.

·        Safety issues like fire accidents are high

·        Because of corruption in allocation of contracts there can be labour problems and land problems 

Various types of coal

·        Lignite:

It is a soft brown combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat content. It has carbon content around 25-35%.Because of its low energy density and typically high moisture content, brown coal is inefficient to transport and is not traded extensively on the world market compared with higher coal grades. It is often burned in power stations near the mines, such as in Australia's Latrobe Valley and Luminant's Monticello plant in Texas. Primarily because of latent high moisture content and low energy density of brown coal, carbon dioxide emissions from traditional brown-coal-fired plants are generally much higher per megawatt generated than for comparable black-coal plants, with the world's highest-emitting plant being Hazelwood Power Station, Victoria.

·        Coke:

Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived fromdestructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal.  Jharia mines is one of the biggest coke mining place in India

Porters model analysis:

1.    Rivalry among firms:

In India Coal India Limited is the largest producer of coal. Its biggest competitor is Singerani Collieries Company.

2.     Threat from potential entrants:

Adani group and Vedanta are some of the new competitors in this industry.

3.    The threat of substitute:

Nuclear energy and solar energy are biggest substitute for coal.

4.    Bargaining power of suppliers:

The supply of coal in India is limited and hence coal players are in dominant position.

5.    Bargaining power of Buyers:

The bargaining power of buyers is Medium.