Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Monday, June 8, 2026, sharply attacked the Congress party's record on coal governance, asserting that the sector has been completely reformed under the current BJP-led government after years of corruption and mismanagement during the UPA era.

Posting in Telugu on X, the minister stated: 'కాంగ్రెస్ హయాంలో.. కోల్ అంటే అవినీతి, అసమర్థతకి కేరాఫ్ అడ్రస్ గా ఉండేవి' — 'Under Congress rule, coal was the address for corruption and inefficiency.' He alleged that coal scams during that period were so severe that a coal minister went to jail, and that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had held additional charge of the Coal Ministry, allocated coal mines simply on the basis of a blank piece of paper.

Context

The remarks refer to the Coalgate scandal, a major controversy that engulfed the UPA-II government after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported in 2012 that discretionary coal block allocations between 2004 and 2009 had caused a notional revenue loss of approximately Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer. The allocations were made through a Screening Committee process widely criticised for lacking transparency and competitive pricing.

The Supreme Court of India, in a landmark 2014 judgment, cancelled 204 coal blocks allocated between 1993 and 2010, ruling that the entire allocation process had been arbitrary and illegal. The ruling sent shockwaves through the power and steel sectors, which had built capacity around those allocations.

Policy Backdrop

Following the Supreme Court order, Parliament enacted the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015, which replaced the discretionary Screening Committee route with a competitive e-auction framework. The shift was designed to ensure transparency, maximise government revenues, and eliminate the scope for political patronage in block allocations.

In 2020, the government took a further step by opening commercial coal mining to private players — ending the decades-old government monopoly — and has since reported consistent year-on-year increases in domestic coal production. Kishan Reddy, as the minister responsible for the sector, has been a vocal advocate of these structural changes.

Stakeholders and Impact

The coal sector's overhaul has had wide-ranging consequences for state governments, which now receive auction revenues, as well as for power producers and steel manufacturers who depend on assured fuel supply. Competitive auctions have brought greater price discovery and reduced the arbitrariness that characterised earlier allocations.

Reddy's comments are also politically significant given his dual role as BJP Telangana state president. Addressing voters in Telugu, he frames the coal reform narrative as a contrast between Congress-era governance failures and the BJP's administrative record — a message calibrated for audiences in Telangana, where the Congress currently governs at the state level.

What's Next

The broader reform agenda in the mining sector remains a work in progress. The outcome of the next round of commercial coal block auctions and any potential amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act in the upcoming session of Parliament will be closely watched by industry and state governments alike.

Reddy's pointed invocation of the Coalgate episode signals that the BJP intends to keep Congress's coal governance record in public focus — particularly as the party contests political ground in states where energy policy and mining revenues directly affect local economies.