NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to auction 41 coal mines for commercial mining will make India self-reliant in the energy sector and create more than 2.8 lakh jobs.
"In line with the vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flagged off process to auction 41 coal mines for commercial mining. This historic decision will make India self-reliant in the energy sector by introducing competition and boosting coal production," Amit Shah said.
"This decision of the Modi government will create more than 2.8 lakh jobs, attract capital investment worth 33,000 crore and generate annual revenue of 20,000 crore for the state governments," Shah added.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi launched the auction of 41 coal mines for commercial mining and reiterated his call for India to become self-reliant in energy by reducing imports.
Despite having the world's fourth-largest coal reserves and being the second-largest producer, the country is the second-largest importer of coal.
"India will turn this COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity. The country will reduce its dependence on imports. To make India self-reliant in the energy sector, a major step is being taken today," Prime Minister Modi said while speaking at the launch of auctioning 41 coal mines for commercial mining.
The rollout of commercial coal mining is part of the series of announcements made by the Centre under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. It is expected to boost private sector participation which will, in turn, lead to higher production and enhance competition.