Coal workers called off their nationwide strike last night after the government assured the trade unions that the state-run Coal India Limited will not be privatised and the employees' interest will be protected. The strike, which had entered the second day yesterday, was called off after a six-hour long meeting in New Delhi between Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and the representatives of the coal workers.

Mr Goyal announced after the meeting that a committee will be constituted to look into the concerns of the workers. The committee, headed by a joint-secretary level officer, will include one representative from each of the five trade unions that had called the strike.

In two days, the strike caused a production loss of an estimated Rs 300 crore, with over 75 per cent of the daily 1.5 million tonnes output taking a hit. The end of the strike has brought relief to the power sector, which was facing the prospect of fuel supplies drying up.
The five-day strike was called by the five major coal unions, including the ruling-BJP backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), mainly in protest against the recent Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Ordinance that paves the way for opening the sector to competition and denationalization of commercial coal mining.