The Coal Controller’s Organisation (CCO) is a subordinate office of the ministry of coal, having its headquarters at Kolkata and field offices at Dhanbad, Ranchi, Bilaspur, Nagpur, Sambalpur, Kothagudem and Asansol.  

It collects and maintains coal production data of all private and public sector coal mines in the country. The information is collected on a monthly basis.

When was the CCO set up?

• Office of Coal Controller (earlier Coal Commissioner), established in 1916, is one of the oldest offices in the Indian coal sector. 

• The main aim behind setting up this office was to have government control to adequately meet the coal requirement during World War I. 

• Acute scarcity of coal necessitated promulgation of Colliery Control Order, 1944 for effective control on production, distribution and pricing of coal.

• Subsequently, it was revised by a more comprehensive order in 1945. Later in 1996, distribution and pricing of coal was deregulated. 

• Thereafter, Colliery Control Order, 2000 superseded the previous order. Finally, the Colliery Control Rules, 2004, was published by the government  in August 2004. 

Functions and responsibilities of CCO:

• Inspection of collieries so as to ensure the correctness of the class, grade or size of coal.

• To issue directives for the purpose of declaration and maintenance of grades of coal of a seam mined in a colliery.

• To act as the appellate authority in case of dispute between consumers and owner arising out of declaration of grade and size of coal.

• To regulate disposal of stock of coal or the expected output of coal in the colliery.

• Quality surveillance with respect to maintenance of grade, loading of coal in wagons/ trucks according to laid down procedures regarding grades and sizes.

• To grant opening / re-opening permission of coal mine, seam or a section of seam or to sub-divide a mine.

• Assessment and collection of excise duty levied on all raw coal raised and dispatched.

• Submission of monthly coal data to different ministries of central and state governments, national and international organisations.

There have been important changes in the coal sector in the recent past including in its policy framework and legal provisions necessitating the need for restructuring and re-orientation of the Coal Controller’s Organisation.

Against this backdrop a study was awarded to the Indian School of Mines (ISM) with the objective that the CCO should assume a more proactive role and function as a specialised agency. 

Environment and safety are two major issues which the coal sector has to contend with and the CCO needs to play the role of a judicious coordinator and be a liasioning agency between the industry and the regulators like the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), ministry of environment, forest and climate change and the state governments.

Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) is the Indian government regulatory agency for safety in mines. The mission of the DGMS is to continually improve safety and health standards, practices and performance in the mining industry and upstream petroleum industry by implementing pro-active safety and health strategies, continuous improvement of processes, effective use of resources and commitment and professional behaviour in its personnel.

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