On 24 September, the much-awaited decision of the Supreme Court (SC) on the allocation of coal blocks was announced. This direction followed an earlier judgment on 25 August, rendering all coal mine blocks allocated through the government’s dispensation and steering committee process since 1993, illegal and arbitrary. Once this was established, the SC, through detailed hearings and submissions from all parties concerned, was to decide on the future of 218 coal blocks, cutting across public and private sector joint venture partnerships and consortiums.One option that the Government of India presented before the court was the. . .