Coal Ministry Drafts Rules for CCO to Regulate Coal Exchange

• New regulatory body to oversee coal operations and grade disputes
• Facilitates coal trading under CCO regulations
• Surplus coal expected; reforms needed in sales channels and trading mechanisms

The government has published draft rules to create an administrative body to regulate the proposed coal exchange and allow coal to be traded as a commodity. The Coal Ministry draft rules propose the Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) to regulate the CCO coal exchange and strengthen India coal regulation.

The proposed coal controller organisation (CCO) will serve as a subordinate office of the Ministry of Coal. The CCO's primary responsibilities will include overseeing coal mine closures for environmental sustainability, providing coal statistics, inspecting coal mines, issuing orders regarding coal grade, and serving as a court of last resort for grade disputes.

According to a draft of the coal exchange rules, 2025, which the ministry of coal has released for stakeholder comment by mid-October, "Ministry of coal proposes to appoint the Coal Controller Organisation (CCO) to register and regulate the coal exchange(s) to be established in the country". The coal exchange itself will broadly be regulated by the CCO's regulations.

As per the draft, the recent reforms in CCO India policy have brought coal sector self-sufficiency and renewed availability of coal in the country.

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Coal production is expected to reach new levels, having already crossed the one billion tonne mark in the last fiscal year, and growth expectations are in excess of 1.5 billion tonnes by 2030.

In conjunction with higher levels of available domestic coal, the country will likely move to a surplus situation that alters the current mechanisms for coal sales. This framework aims to enhance transparency in the Indian energy market, govern coal trading rules in India, and improve overall coal exchange governance under CCO India policy.

This transformation will require significant reform of the market supported by a solid regulatory framework to insure effective trading, fair pricing, and transparency in coal transactions. The purpose of creating the CCO and the coal exchange is to develop a structured, well-regulated marketplace for coal in India.

The draft stated, "Therefore, in the scenario of increased availability of domestic coal in the country, further reforms are being carried out in the coal sector with focus on promoting competitive markets for sale of coal, and thus, the coal ministry proposes to establish Coal Exchange (s) under the...enabling provisions of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2025".