New Delhi: The Ministry of Coal has notified the Coal Exchange Rules, 2026, opening the way for online platforms where coal can be bought and sold through competitive bidding. The rules were published in the Official Gazette on June 4, the ministry said on Tuesday. The exchanges will shift coal sales from a "one-to-many" model to a "many-to-many" trading platform, in what the government called a "paradigm shift in coal marketing."
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The rules were framed under section 18B of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. The MMDR Amendment Act, 2025 introduced the concept of a mineral exchange, the ministry said. The Coal Controller Organisation (CCO), designated as the regulator in December 2025, will register and oversee the exchanges.
In its statement, the ministry said: "The introduction of Coal Exchanges marks a paradigm shift in coal marketing by moving from the traditional 'one-to-many' sales model to a competitive 'many-to-many' trading platform."
The exchanges will enable transparent and market-driven price discovery, improve efficiency, and give coal producers — including commercial and captive miners — access to a wider pool of buyers, the statement said. Public sector coal companies can also use the platform to widen their market participation.
An applicant must be a company limited by shares, incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, and must be demutualised — meaning its ownership and management are kept separate from trading rights. It must maintain a net worth of at least Rs 50 crore at all times.
The CCO will approve or reject an application within 90 days of receiving it. Registration will be valid for 25 years and can be renewed for another 25.
A coal exchange will pay a one-time registration fee of Rs 50 lakh and a non-refundable application fee of Rs 3 lakh. The annual fee will be Rs 30 lakh or 0.02 percent of the trade value on the exchange, excluding taxes, whichever is higher, subject to a cap of Rs 5 crore.
No single member or client can hold more than 5 percent of an exchange's paid-up equity capital, and members and clients together cannot hold more than 49 percent. A person who is neither a member nor a client cannot hold more than 25 percent of the equity after five years of registration, and must divest any excess within that period.
The board must have at least as many independent directors as shareholder directors, with the managing director counted among the latter. No member or client of an exchange can sit on its board.
Any electronic platform already trading coal must apply for registration under the new rules. If such a platform is not registered as a coal exchange within six months of the first exchange becoming operational, it shall "cease to exist," the rules state.
The rules prohibit market manipulation, insider trading, cartelisation and circular trading. The CCO can order investigations, impose a floor or cap on coal prices, and suspend trading for a cooling-off period during high volatility.
Every exchange must set up a settlement guarantee fund to back trades on its platform, keeping at least 50 percent of the fund's proceeds in safe and liquid investments such as deposits with scheduled public sector banks, treasury bills and government securities. Each exchange must also run an electronic trading system with an automated audit trail and a cyber security framework, and submit quarterly surveillance reports to the regulator.