[JURIST] The Supreme Court of India [official website] ruled Wednesday that private companies must return the vast majority of coal block assets allocated to them by the national government from 1993 to 2010, which were sold under a corrupt bidding system. The court held 214 of the 218 designated coal mine blocks must be returned to the government. Of the four exempted blocks, two will come under the control of state-owned entities, NTPC Ltd. and Steel Authority of India Ltd. [official websites], and two will remain under the ownership of Reliance Power [corporate website], which is the largest private energy producer in India. The exempted blocks provide coal to significant power plants in the country, and the court deemed their continued production was crucial to sustain India’s current energy needs. Wednesday’s ruling takes immediate effect [BBC report] for 168 mines that are not yet in production and provides a deadline of March 2015 [AP report] for the remaining mines to be transferred to government control.

One month ago the Supreme Court of India ruled [JURIST report] that all coal mining licenses awarded by the government between 1993 and 2010 were illegal. According to statistics compiled by the World Bank, roughly one-quarter of India’s total population of 1.2 billion does not have electricity, and despite being the third-largest coal producer producer in the world, India increased its coal imports [WSJ reports] more than 10 percent over the past year. The response among industry experts in India has been negative, and experts believe the ruling will cause serious disruptions to India’s economy [Times of India report] primarily in the steel, metals, and energy sectors. As of Monday India’s busiest ports are facing severe overcrowding [Times of India report] and are not suited to handle the amount of coal entering the country.