Coal Strike to continue, No Headway Yet in Government-Union Talks

Here are the latest developments in this story:

1. All five trade unions, including the BJP-backed Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh - said they will continue with the five-day strike.
2. The strike is expected to hit the supply of fuel to power plans. Asked if a power crisis was imminent, coal minister Piyush Goyal, who is also the minister for power, told NDTV, "I don't think so."
3. The government is expecting that the situation will be resolved "in an amicable manner", reported news agency Press Trust of India, quoting Coal India chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya.
4. The unions - protesting against the government's coal block ordinance which may allow private companies to mine and sell coal commercially - have called for a halt in production at all coal fields of Coal India Limited.
5. On the first day of the strike, production stopped at over 60% units. Of the 438 units of Coal India, 271 have ground to a halt. There is partial production from 57 units.
6. By afternoon, the strike was estimated to have caused losses to the tune of Rs 35 crore.
7. Coal is the most dominant energy source in India, meeting around 52% of the primary commercial energy needs.
8. As of January 1, power plants had enough coal to run for nine days. But 20 plants have stocks of less than four days.
9. Coal India produces around 80 per cent of India's overall coal and feeds 82 of the 86 coal-based thermal power plants.
10. The five major trade unions backing the strike - Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Confederation of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Hind Mazdoor Sangh - represent almost 90% of Coal India's half-a-million workforce.