Bihar to supply coal via PDS to 21 million ration card holders amid LPG concerns

The scheme will cover around 21 million ration card holders, benefiting an estimated 85.1 million people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). It will use the existing network of 52,055 fair price shops, with the Bihar State Mining Corporation Limited designated as the nodal agency to procure and lift coal from Coal India Limited. The transport department will determine movement costs, and district magistrates will head district-level task forces to finalise the per-kilogram price based on logistical inputs. In the initial phase, up to 100 kg of coal per ration card per month will be provided, with adjustments possible if demand rises. The scheme will be integrated into the e-POS system with biometric authentication, and is intended to address LPG access issues including the rural 45-day refill lock-in period. The cost of coal will vary depending on the distance from coal pitheads to PDS outlets, and the rollout is expected to take about a month to become available at outlets.

Abhay Kumar Singh, secretary of the food and consumer protection department, wrote to the secretaries of the mines and geology and transport departments to operationalise the plan, signaling a coordinated inter-departmental effort ahead of rollout.

During a crisis management group meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit on March 30, officials first mooted distributing domestic coal through Bihar's Public Distribution System (PDS) as a cooking fuel, a proposal later formalised in discussions led by development commissioner Mihir Singh.