The meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the Finance Minister P Chidambaram, which was to be held tomorrow to deliberate on the draft Coal Regulator Bill, has been postponed again.

“The GoM which was to meet tomorrow to discuss the draft Coal Regulator Bill has been postponed due to unavailability of a few ministers,” a government official said.

No fresh date has been fixed as of now, he added.

The Cabinet had referred the draft Bill for setting up a regulatory authority for the coal sector to a ministerial panel.

The Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal had said in November that GoM assigned to set up coal sector regulator may come up with its final recommendations soon.

In May, the Union Cabinet had discussed the proposal for a coal regulator and asked the GoM to make recommendations on its powers and functions.

The previous meeting, scheduled for December 18, was also postponed because of ministers’ preoccupations in Parliament.

The setting up of an independent regulator for the coal sector is considered crucial for improving competitiveness in e-auctions, fixing guidelines for price revision in supply pacts, setting trading margins and increasing transparency in the allocation of reserves.

A coal regulator was recommended in the country’s Integrated Energy Policy as well as by the T L Shankar Committee on coal sector reforms.

A few states and other stakeholders have also been demanding setting-up of the coal regulator.

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