The Economic Survey, last month, said there was an urgent need to fast-track the entry of private sector in coal mining to increase production of this mineral and, by extension, reduce imports. Subsequently, coal and power minister Piyush Goyal stated the government was considering the use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to achieve this objective. PPPs in coal are not new, but all three models in use have struggled for balance. “In a proper PPP model, you would have a sharp delineation of the roles and responsibilities of both parties,” says Kameswara Rao, leader (power and mining), PwC. “But that doesn’t exist in any of the current contracts.”

events keep overtaking our understanding of the world. my understanding of coal, built around coalgate, is now obsolete. and one of the new areas to now focus on is ppps in coal. incidentally, for more on the three models i discuss in this story, see these stories, on the 51:49 model; on the 74:26/emta model; and the subcontracted mdo model. (Update: After joining Scroll, I looked at another company following the MDO model. See these three reports. One, Two and Three).