A non-lapsable "Green Energy Transition India Fund" has been suggested by an inter-ministerial committee on just transition from coal to assist coal-bearing regions in developing an alternative economic strategy once the region's coal mines are gradually shut down.

Additionally, it has suggested a three-tiered structure and a special strategy for the shutdown of coal mines.

In its report released on Wednesday, the committee stated that funding for the fund could come from a variety of sources, including existing resources like the clean energy cess, special levies or cesses, fines levied against polluters, international sources (climate finance), bond issuance, and special levies or cesses.

The committee also recommended that "a well-defined system for utilisation of such monies be devised to guarantee accountability of funds utilisation."

The 14-person group was established last year under the India-US Sustainable Growth Pillar of the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership, and is led by BP Pati, the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Coal.

The committee believes that it is essential to have a thorough mine closure framework, a strong strategy, and a policy in place in order to guarantee that the long-term transition does not take place in an ad hoc manner and that the concerns and aspirations of the impacted communities are met.

The committee recommends that the government develop a just transition strategy for managing coal mine closures and establish a three-tiered task group to be in charge of putting the proposed just transition policy into practise.

According to the statement, "the task force shall guarantee that closure-related actions are carried out in compliance with the prescribed policy while firming up rehabilitation and repurposing plans for each coal asset closure."

Making all information (reports, statistics, etc.) accessible to the public will improve accountability and transparency in regard to the closure of coal mines, it continued.

The committee concluded that the institutional and operational framework would assist India in addressing the issue of potential short-term and long-term coal mine closures in a way that is fair and makes the most of the chance to improve the lives of communities that are currently dependent on and adversely affected by coal.