Joshi urges coal sector trade unions to discontinue strike, says it will cause loss of Rs 319 cr

• A loss of this magnitude is a national loss and I urge employees of Coal PSUs to end the ongoing strike and resume back their work, said Joshi

• According to an estimate released by the minister, while Odisha will lose Rs 70 crore, Chhattisgarh will incur a loss of Rs 66 crore

New Delhi: Making an appeal to the protesting trade unions in the coal sector to discontinue the three-day strike, Union Minister for Coal Pralhad Joshi said on Thursday that the strike against commercial mining will cause a cumulative loss of Rs 319 crore to the exchequer. In a tweet, Joshi said, "It is estimated that States will lose more than Rs. 319 crores as part of revenues from @CoalIndiaHq. A loss of this magnitude is a national loss and I urge employees of Coal PSUs to end the ongoing strike and resume back their work."

Trade unions in the coal sector across the country are on a three-day strike, starting July 2, to protest against the Centre's decision to open up coal mines for commercial mining, which would end Coal India Limited's monopoly in the sector. The strike is likely to affect around 4 MT of coal production.

Odisha will take the biggest hit of Rs 70 crore because of the strike: Joshi

According to an estimate released by the minister, while Odisha will lose Rs 70 crore, Chhattisgarh will incur a loss of Rs 66 crore, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand Rs 61 crore each, Maharashtra Rs 27 crore, West Bengal Rs 23 crore and Uttar Pradesh Rs 11 crore. Out of an average 1.5 MT of coal mined by Coal India Ltd everyday, around 106 crore goes to the states' exchequers. 

What are the unions demanding?

The three-day strike against privatisation of coal mines and commercial mining has been jointly called by CITU, AITUC, INTUC and HMS. The strike is to resist the sale of coal mines to foreign and domestic corporates. The unions have asked the government to withdraw the decision of offering coal blocks up for commercial mining in the coal industry, stop all steps that weaken or are geared towards the privatisation of Coal India Limited or Singareni Collieries Company, withdraw the decision to de-link CMPDIL from CIL, enforce HPC/CIL enhanced wages to contract workers in CIL and SCCL and implement the clause 9.3.0, 9.4.0 and 9.5.0 of National Coal Wage Agreement.

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