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New Delhi - A strike by five major unions representing Indian mine workers entered its second day on Wednesday after talks with the government failed.
The miners are striking for five days to protest against government plans to allow private companies to mine and sell coal.
Coal meets more than half of India's energy needs, and mines run by state-run Coal India Limited feed all but four of the country's 86 thermal plants.
A meeting between union representatives and coal ministry secretary Anil Swarup on Tuesday night ended without resolution, said SQ Zama, secretary general of the Indian National Mineworkers' Federation (INMF).
"The government offered no solutions. They are not prepared to concede anything," said Zama.
The INMF is affiliated with the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), one of the unions that called the strike.
Broadcaster CNN-IBN reported that the strike had halted production at over 75% of Indian coal mines and that losses on the first day of the strike were estimated at around $11m.
Coal Minister Piyush Goyal denied that a power-crisis was imminent and indicated he would meet union leaders Wednesday, the report said.
AITUC's Gurudas Dasgupta said the strike was the biggest industrial action in India since 1977. The strike is scheduled to end on January 10. There are a total of 500 000 workers in India's coal sector, including over 350 000 in Coal India.
The government recently renewed an ordinance for the re-allocation and e-auction of 204 coal blocks after the Supreme Court cancelled a 2004 allocation that it said did not follow legal procedures.
The auctions would be open to private bidders. India is the world's third-largest coal producer, after China and the United States.
