Coal India Limited commissioned a study titled “Vision 2030”, outlining the state of the coal industry in India and what the future will hold for it. The report assesses the future demand scenarios for the domestic coal sector and identifies key action areas.

It stands clear on the fact that domestic demand for coal will definitely increase in the coming years with unbridled development coming India’s way.

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While current production will meet the increasing demand in the short term, global factors such as the Paris agreement will significantly increase cost of compliance, said the report.

However, even though there have been huge developments in bringing renewable sources of energy to the market, India’s hunger for coal and other non-renewable resources remains insatiable. This is most likely owing to the fact that renewable sources of energy lack cost effective storage solutions.

Moreover, the report also concludes that CIL trails its global peers in operating performance and technology adoption, thereby affecting its competitiveness.

In addition to this, the “Vision” document also points out to dire need of regulations and standardisation.

Despite this bleak picture that the “Vision” document paints of the coal industry, Professor Edward Buckingham, director of Monash Business School, Monash University is convinced that there is a bright future for jobs in the resources sector in India, especially in coal, iron ore and oil mining. “All of these resources are essential for development,” he says.

Given the fact that the demand is likely to rise in the coming years, Buckingham says that with a bit of self regulation and industry consensus, the value of labour in certain areas of the field will sky rocket. It is despite the fact that automation and artificial intelligence are taking up a lot of the jobs in the mining sector.

On one end of the spectrum, artificial intelligence will take over jobs that are routine, such as driving trucks in and out of mining pits as the cost of using such technology falls below the cost of labour.

“At the other end of the spectrum, those professionals who have mastered the skills to use the new technology, they will be able to demand higher salaries and higher income because their productivity will rise,” said Buckingham.

And this is where an impasse is reached between the education system in India and the employment sector.

While some of the finest engineering colleges in the world are in India, churning out engineers year after year, very few of these fresh graduates are equipped with skills that the market requires. Professor Buckingham stressed that practical knowledge of the field one plans to enter is paramount for them to be able to demand a competitive salary.

And when this is not available, the industry must come to a consensus and form a standardised body that can attest to the practical competency of employees, thereby increasing the value of employees for employers.

Using the example of oil company Schlumberger, Buckingham shared that such companies set certain standards in the industry, owing to which engineers in their employment are recognised as ones of high standard and can then demand for competitive remuneration packages.

There has never been a better time to enter the resources sector in India. If one were to acquire certain skills in technology that is currently trending, their employability will reach new heights. This is largely owing to the fact that skills like knowing how to process big data and being familiar with programming are not industry-specific skills.

If one invests in learning and mastering such skills, then they can be applied in a horde of other sectors. But as India prepares for at least another decade of boom in the resources sector, it is important for the industry in India to decide how they want to use resources such as coal in the face of climate change.

“There is now technology that enables cleaner methods of producing and using coal. Using such technology may provide a different kind of boost in resources sector. So India can either choose to continue using coal like it does — the traditional methods, or can take a step towards cleaner uses of coal.

And this is not something that lies solely with the policymakers. It’s also about how the industry can come together and decide,” said Buckingham.