Centre tells Coal India to liquidate pithead stocks

The government is pushing Coal India to liquidate about 40 million tonnes of unsold coal piling up at pitheads of mines. “Coal India is unable to sell more coal. Evacuation of coal is a problem as we are unable to stock further. I have talked to Coal India chairman and discussed how to liquidate the coal stock,” Union Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said here. “I have said get this coal out so that production does not fall,” he said at a function organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce. The Minister indicated that he would not mind if price of pithead coal was reduced to liquidate the stock, but added that he does not want to intervene in the pricing decision of CIL.